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Health department combines DEC and opioid response roles; Jenny Ebert to cover both
Summary
The county health director presented and the commission approved a staffing plan that combines Drug Endangered Children (DEC) and opioid response duties into one part‑time position; Jenny Ebert will do 30 hours per week (7.5 paid from DEC through 9/11/2026 and 22.5 from opioid funds thereafter unless new funding found).
Diane Creek, Riley County health department director, proposed combining the county’s Drug Endangered Children (DEC) and opioid-response positions into a single part-time role and said the state granted a no-cost extension for DEC funding through Sept. 30, 2026.
Creek told the commission the DEC grant began in 2023 and the county previously had a part-time DEC hire who left in April 2025. She said the department and the DEC supervisor Shanika Rose determined DEC grant requirements could be met by reassigning duties to Jenny Ebert, who already works on opioid-response activities.
Under the approved staffing plan, Ebert will work 30 hours per week: 7.5 hours paid from DEC grant funds and 22.5 hours from opioid-response grant funds until Sept. 11, 2026 (Creek said the DEC funding runs through Sept. 30, 2026 but pay-period timing means the DEC-funded hours end Sept. 11). After that date, unless new funding is obtained, Ebert’s hours funded by DEC will end and the position will continue at 22.5 hours per week paid from opioid‑response funds.
Creek said combining the positions should reduce grant administrative costs and ensure consistent county messaging to the community. The commission moved and seconded the staffing plan and approved it; the clerk recorded the motion as passed with an “all agree” outcome.
Commission action: motion to approve the 2025–26 staffing plan for DEC and opioid response (combine two part‑time positions into one 30‑hour/week position through Sept. 11, 2026; thereafter reduce to 22.5 hours/week unless additional funding identified) — approved.
