Marathon County committee recommends accepting DOJ grants to expand deflection program

The Marathon County Public Safety Committee on Tuesday recommended amending the 2025 budget to accept federal Department of Justice grant funds intended to expand the county’s deflection program for people with substance use disorders.

The recommendation, which passed on a voice vote, will be forwarded to the HR, Finance and Property Committee and then to the full county board for final budget action. The grants were awarded through a state pass-through from the Wisconsin Department of Justice under the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) funding stream.

District Attorney Kyle told the committee the county applied for two of the DOJ award categories and received both. “So it’s 2 grants under the COSEP, funding. It went to enhance and expand our deflection program that we are currently already up and running with that is doing amazing work in the community with substance use, and getting people into treatment, more quickly,” Kyle said. He said the awards will fund expansion of staff and services to serve more individuals in Marathon County.

Committee members clarified budget and administrative details. Commissioner Leonard explained the legislative reason the committee is acting now: the committee is being asked to amend the 2025 budget to record receipt of multi-year grant funds, while the county will incorporate anticipated future-year receipts into the 2026 budget process. “This would, if you are in support of receiving the funds, [be] a motion to recommend amendment to the 2025 budget to receive the funds and forward to the HR, Finance and Property Committee,” Leonard said.

Committee members asked about the size and terms of the awards. A committee member summarized the funding as roughly $700,000 over two years with an additional $300,000 extension opportunity; the transcript records that figure as the committee’s understanding. Kyle and staff said the grants are reimbursement-style awards and are not matching grants, meaning the county is not required to contribute local matching dollars for the awarded funds. “There’s 1 other comment I’ll make is these are not matching grant funds. So there’s no expense to the county, it’s all money coming in from the state DOJ that would support this program,” Kyle said.

Staff described how the program will be administered and reported. Ruth Heinzel, who handles grant reporting for the district attorney’s office, was identified as the staff member who will manage reporting obligations. Dana, who runs the county’s deflection program, said the expansion would add a deflection specialist who “would be responsible for keeping and tracking those performance metrics, and we work with the diversion supervisor so it’s an expansion of the things that we’re currently already doing well.”

Committee members raised sustainability concerns and next steps. Several members asked what would happen after the grant period ends and whether the county would need to fund the program through the levy or include positions in future budgets. Leonard said decisions about continuing funding beyond the grant period are for the county board to decide during the formal budget process. He also recommended administration and the district attorney’s office identify key performance measures during the grant period to inform any future funding decisions.

The committee voted to recommend the resolution amending the 2025 budget to accept the COSSUP grant funds and forward it to the HR, Finance and Property Committee; the motion was moved by Yi and seconded by Nick, and passed on a voice vote. The exact roll-call tally was not specified in the meeting record.

The committee noted the grants are multi-year awards and that the county will record only the 2025 share now, with anticipated future-year receipts to be addressed in the 2026 budget cycle. The item will appear next on the HR, Finance and Property Committee agenda for further consideration.