The Allen County Commissioners on June 13 approved the county's Drug Free Indiana mini-grant allocations recommended by the Allen County Drug and Alcohol Consortium.

Monique Johnson, executive director of the Allen County Drug and Alcohol Consortium (DAC), told commissioners the grant funds from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute are divided into four statutory categories: prevention, justice, intervention and administration. "There are 4 categories that we divide the money up into," Johnson said, describing the consortium's annual application, scoring rubric and review process.

Johnson said prevention and justice awards are distributed via a mini-grant application scored by a committee of four DAC employees and four community coalition members. Intervention funds are distributed as scholarships to recovery programs and recovery homes to cover short-term gaps in individuals' benefits or employment, and the administrative category covers running the coalition and MOU monitoring. "The intervention money is allocated out in the community by way of intervention scholarships," she said.

Johnson told the commissioners that the Drug Free Indiana (DFI) funding available to Allen County increased this year, noting, "we got about $12,000 more this year than we did in 2023." She also confirmed DAC is audited: "Yes, we are audited by DWD," and said the consortium's IRS Form 990 is publicly available on its website.

Commissioners asked about DAC's scoring rubric; Johnson said applicants that use evidence-based or evidence-informed practices receive higher scores and that reviewers consider SMART goals, reach versus cost and previous compliance with MOUs. "We look at reach versus cost," Johnson said, adding that lower cost-per-person proposals with measurable reach receive favorable consideration.

After questions, a commissioner moved to approve the grant recipient requests; the motion was seconded and carried. The record shows a formal approval of the DAC's recommended allocations for the current grant period.

The approval allows DAC to proceed with awards under the four categories and continue oversight, site visits and MOU monitoring as described by Johnson.