Commission approves Community Corrections grant applications totaling more than $217,000 for behavioral health and supervision services

Randy Regier, director of Reno County Community Corrections, asked the commission to approve submission of two Kansas Department of Corrections grant applications aimed at behavioral-health services and supervision capacity.

Regier said the behavioral health application requests $217,053.01 in total, with $36,500 budgeted for in-house personnel, $145,000 for contractual personnel (covering a full-time care coordinator at Horizons Mental Health Center and part-time peer mentors through the Substance Abuse Center of Kansas), and $21,000 intended for housing resources primarily used for Oxford Houses.

"A portion of the total amount we're requesting is $217,053.01. $36,500 is for our personnel in house," Regier said, describing how the grant would fund medication-assisted treatment access, substance-abuse evaluations (about $75 per evaluation), mental-health medications and housing to remove barriers to inpatient treatment.

He also presented the adult comprehensive plan grant, which funds the bulk of supervision services and staff capacity for the community corrections agency; both applications had been approved by the local Community Corrections Advisory Board.

Commissioner Hurst moved to authorize staff to submit the behavioral-health grant application; the motion was seconded and passed on roll call. The commission also moved to approve submission of the comprehensive-plan grant application, which was similarly approved.

Regier highlighted operational challenges, including recent staff turnover and the end of several federal grants that had previously supported drug-court staff, and noted increasing costs for drug-testing supplies. He also briefed commissioners on local substance-use trends, saying methamphetamine remains “the core drug” in the community and noting changes in opioid-related resources.

Next steps: staff will submit the two grant applications to the Kansas Department of Corrections and return with any required amended budgets after state allocations are finalized later in the budget cycle.