The Riley County commissioners approved grants for both juvenile and adult corrections services. These grants came from the Kansas Department of Corrections’ $3 million pool.
The funds total approximately $780,000 and will be used for the fiscal year 2020. The funds will be used to focus on three key areas for adult services. These areas are assessing cognitive behavioral health courses, looking at staff’s use of effective practices, and evaluating clients’ risk-need assessment scores.
Community Corrections Director Shelly Williams says the allocations for fiscal year 2020 for adult services is projected to be approximately $336,000. This will be a 3.2% reduction from last year. Since the department offers both juvenile and adult services, they are able to share some of the administrative costs as well as some of their other duties.
The money from the grants will also be used to fill some positions, which in the past has been around 4 full time equivalents.
Williams says mental health has been an increasing issue with increasing populations in the jails. KDOC’s goal with these grants for around the state will help deal with this issue.
Also during the meeting, Assistant County Engineer Gary Rosewicz announce contractors for the Stockdale Park Road Bridge replacement project will begin work on Wednesday.
The project is located about a mile east of Tuttle Creek Boulevard. The road is currently closed an will remain closed during the construction time. The project is projected to last 110 working days with the weather permitting.
The first part of the project will included the removal of the current existing structure. Rosewicz estimates the contractors will start the actual deconstruction of the structure on Monday.
