Barton County Commissioners approved the application for state grant funding for area juvenile programs, though there are concerns about whether the programs will actually receive full funding this year or not.
Juvenile Services Director Laurie White to the commission Monday that the state’s Juvenile Justice Authority mandates certain juvenile programs and that funds for them have been historically available through state grants.
White oversees juvenile programs in five area counties, but Barton County handles the administration of the programs, therefore the local commission has to approve the budget requests. Juvenile Services administers its programs in Barton, Ellsworth, Rice, Russell and Stafford counties.
For the state fiscal year 2012 plans, Juvenile Services is seeking $566,072 in core funding, including:
• Juvenile intake — $178,403
• Case management — $197,838
• Juvenile intensive supervision — $189,831
It will also seek $19,978 in prevention funding, which White noted is a significant reduction from past years’ prevention funding.
She said state officials are hopeful that as budget issues are addressed, it will be easier in coming years to return prevention funding.
However, as is the case with all programs that use state funding this year, there are still questions about how well these grants will be funded, White explained.
She added that she may be back with the commission to discuss funding again, if cuts are too severe.
The grant applications had previously been approved by the Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board, prior to being presented to the commission, White explained Monday.