Board approves Story County sponsorship for Center for Creative Justice grant application

The Story County Board of Supervisors voted March 4 to sponsor a Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) application from the Center for Creative Justice (CCJ) seeking funding for a resource navigator position to support people leaving the Story County Jail.

Stacy Sugar, executive director of the Center for Creative Justice, said the navigator would work with jail staff to identify people who lack community supports and help plan post-release connections to treatment, housing, employment and other services. She said CCJ would hire and administratively support the position if the grant is awarded and that the county would not be asked for additional funding at the time of application beyond serving as the local governmental sponsor for the grant process.

Sugar said the position targets post-release support rather than pretrial diversion or early release, and that the role could use in-jail tablet materials and face-to-face contact to engage people prior to release. She said CCJ expects to track outcomes including the numbers of people referred to services, who engage with services, and measures such as employment, substance-use or mental-health evaluations and treatment entry.

Micah Anderson, assistant jail administrator, said current in-jail programs available to inmates are limited compared with earlier efforts and said the jail sees people who lack community supports and often return to jail without help; he told the board the jail supports efforts to add post-release coordination.

Supervisors raised questions about likely caseloads, how the navigator would reach people released very quickly after arrest, whether participation would be voluntary, and how outcomes would be measured. Sugar said she expects to serve “several hundred” people in a year based on county snapshots and that the position would emphasize voluntary post-release engagement with follow-up in the community. The JAG grant requires annual reapplication for continuation past the first fiscal year, and Sugar said CCJ has identified community partners and proposals to adapt prior outreach materials and to translate content for tablets.

County auditors and the board discussed the county’s role as sponsor and whether the county would serve as fiscal agent; the auditor said staff could support the process and would need required documentation and timelines if the county acts as grantee or fiscal agent.

A motion to approve the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant application for CCJ with Story County as the local government sponsor was moved and seconded; the motion passed on recorded voice votes.