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Elkhart County approves $149,913 for 2025 Drug Free Community programs
Summary
The board approved a $149,913 appropriation from the county Drug Free Community Fund (Fund 1148) to support criminal justice, prevention and treatment programs for 2025, including funding for local law enforcement prevention efforts and women's recovery housing.
The Elkhart County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 6 approved the Elkhart County Drug Free Partnership’s 2025 allocation recommendations totaling $149,913 from Fund 1148. The allocations were presented by Jessica Kirschner of the Elkhart County Drug Free Partnership and approved by the board.
Jessica Kirschner, representing the Elkhart County Drug Free Partnership, said the requested appropriation of $149,913 would be divided among three categories: criminal justice, prevention and treatment. The board-recorded allocation breaks down as follows: $50,875 for criminal-justice initiatives to be split between the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office and the Goshen Police Department; $40,000 for prevention programs allocated to Tobacco Control Elkhart County; and $53,038 for treatment, to be split among additional recovery centers and (as described in the presentation) a women’s recovery housing program and program administration. Kirschner clarified that the referenced women’s program is a recovery housing program, not a “spa.”
Kirschner said prevention funding will include work on vaping, tobacco and specifically vaping of THC products, and noted the partnership plans to host a two-day national speaker summit on marijuana education. When a commissioner asked whether the partnership maintains data on program progress, Kirschner said the partnership and the prevention contractors keep records and that state-funded partners maintain extensive records.
Board materials and remarks noted that Fund 1148 is the county’s Drug Free Community fund, established in association with the Governor’s Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana and funded by fees from certain drug-interdiction fines and related sources; the partnership said the county has maintained this fund since 1989 and that Elkhart County receives a comparatively large per-capita fund balance because the county’s courts historically have not waived those fines. The board approved the allocation recommendations by voice vote.
Votes at a glance - Approval of Drug Free Partnership allocation recommendations, Fund 1148, total $149,913 — motion approved by voice vote (unanimous).
Context and next steps The approved funds support prevention (including vaping and THC education), criminal-justice programming for local law enforcement, and treatment and recovery housing for women. The partnership will continue to report on program data to funders and the board; specific reporting requirements were not detailed in the meeting record.
Ending: Commissioners approved the request and moved to other business.
