Community corrections to buy Kala curricula for in-house addiction education; grant will cover costs

The Board of Commissioners approved a contract on Oct. 6 that will allow Community Corrections to license Kala Curriculums' training materials and train an in-house instructor to deliver the Smarter program to participants, funded in full by grant money.

Community Corrections staff described Smarter as a 10-hour curriculum that focuses on cognitive-behavioral change for addictions and decision-making. Staff said the total agreement will be “just a little bit under $10,000” covering training and materials; a placeholder line-item of $20 referenced in the discussion was described as a materials charge.

The department told commissioners it will use grant funding to pay the contract in full and that the curriculum has been used since 2020 with some success. The commission approved the contract by motion and voice vote.

Staff said the license will allow distribution of training materials and will support creating at least one trained in-house instructor to deliver the curriculum to participants in Community Corrections programs.