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Community Justice director details biennial plan shortfall, proposes fee increases and behavioral health funding
Summary
Larry Evanson, Columbia County community justice director, told the board on Aug. 27 that state funding leaves a local shortfall and described proposed fee changes, Measure 57 allocations, and plans for a behavioral health deflection program funded by a $150,000 phase-1 award.
Larry Evanson, Columbia Countys community justice director, presented the departments biennial state plan and a set of fee changes and program proposals at the Aug. 27 board meeting, saying state funding leaves the county short of the actual cost to provide required services.
Evanson said community corrections funding is calculated as a per‑day payment for people on supervision and that Columbia Countys share of the state population under supervision rose slightly to 1.28 percent. He said the statewide community corrections budget was approximately $279 million for the biennium and that Columbia County will receive roughly $3.5 million over the two‑year period. That figure, he said, is lower than the cost recommended in a statewide cost study; the countys gap from the study is about $760,000 for the biennium.
"We're trying to prioritize our core services — supervision, sanctions — and maintain periphery programs like the transitional house and work crew," Evanson said. "We will be receiving $3,500,000 over this biennium, which is slightly above what we received the last biennium. But the cost of inflation has gone up dramatically."
Evanson outlined how the county plans to use Measure 57 funding, which supplements the biennial allocation. Measure 57 funds will pay for a portion of a parole and probation officer and an administrative case specialist, and will underwrite the countys electronic monitoring program as an alternative to jail incarceration. Evanson said the county will provide lunches for work-crew participants sourced from the jail kitchen for safety and control reasons.
Evanson also described a behavioral health deflection program. The state is funding a Phase 1 minimum award of $150,000 for counties of Columbia Countys size; Evanson said the county will budget that award to cover 11 months of an administrative case specialist, incidentals, client supplies and $20,000 to Columbia Community Mental Health (CCMH) to support peer‑support services for the program. He said the county hopes Phase 2 funding will allow program continuation, including moving toward a 24‑hour hotline.
To offset costs, Evanson presented a proposed fee schedule that includes new and increased fees: a $50 one‑time file-creation maintenance fee; travel and transfer fees; an abscond fee; a work-crew daily contract increase from $375 to $425; a work-crew administrative start-up fee increase from $40 to $50; increases in transitional-housing charges from $15 to $20 per day; and a planned increase in the county share sent to the Department of Revenue by 15 percent for outstanding balances. Evanson said fees can be waived for indigent people in compliance with supervision and that many transitional-house residents can pay rent by participating in work crew.
Evanson said the biennial plan will go to the local public safety coordinating council for approval in September and that he will return with revenue estimates for the proposed fee changes next week.
No formal vote on the biennial plan or the fee schedule took place at the Aug. 27 meeting; Evanson said he expects the plan and related intergovernmental agreement to be on next weeks consent agenda with a letter of support attached.
