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Elkhart County approves $149,913 allocation recommendations for Drug-Free Community Fund
Summary
The county approved an appropriation recommendation of $149,913 from the Drug-Free Community Fund for 2025, allocating funds among criminal justice, prevention, treatment and administration; commissioners approved the recommendation unanimously.
The Elkhart County Board of Commissioners approved Jan. 6 the 2025 allocation recommendations from the Drug-Free Community Fund, requesting an appropriation of $149,913 to support criminal justice, prevention, treatment and administrative activities.
Jessica Kirschner, speaking for the Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership, presented the recommended split. She said $50,875 would go to criminal justice programs to support the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office and the Goshen Police Department; $40,000 would go to prevention funding for Tobacco Control Elkhart County (including vaping and THC-product education); and $53,038 would be allocated to treatment, to be split among additional recovery centers and a women’s recovery program (the presenter clarified the women’s program is a recovery/housing program rather than the acronym previously cited). The request also includes funding for administration of the Drug-Free Partnership; the transcript did not specify the dollar amount assigned to administration.
Kirschner told commissioners the Drug-Free Community Fund is supported by fees collected from drug-interdiction actions and is tied to the Governor’s Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana; the fund has existed since 1989 and is used for prevention, treatment and criminal-justice programs in each Indiana county. She said Elkhart County receives one of the largest per-capita allocations in the state due to the county’s retention of fines that in other counties are sometimes waived.
Commissioners asked whether prevention funding covers vaping; Kirschner said it does and that the partnership plans a national speaker and a two-day summit on marijuana education. She said program data are maintained and that Tobacco Control keeps extensive records. The motion to approve the allocation recommendations carried on a unanimous voice vote.
The appropriation recommendation authorizes the county to allocate existing Drug-Free Community Fund balances as described; formal appropriation in the county budget and disbursement follow county fiscal procedures.
