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York County hears plan for two juvenile diversion grants totaling roughly $1.075 million
Summary
Diversion coordinator Tristan Perry and County Attorney Gary Olson told the board the county was awarded two grants — about $650,000 over three years and $425,000 for 18 months — and asked the board to accept the awards and approve staff assignments; commissioners asked for clearer spending and match plans before final acceptance.
Tristan Perry, the county’s diversion coordinator, told the York County Board of Commissioners the county has been awarded two federal juvenile-justice grants that together total roughly $1.075 million and must be accepted and planned for in the coming weeks.
Perry said one award — described in the materials as about $650,000 over three years — includes a 20% match requirement in the first year that could be met in part by in-kind staff time. The second award is an 18-month, planning-focused grant of about $425,000; Perry said $50,000 of that is intended for initial planning and evaluation work during a six-month planning phase.
"We’ve been awarded the school year for them has started," Perry said while reviewing a two-sided cheat sheet of program details and budget notes. He told commissioners the county has roughly 45 days to accept the awards and that staff would need to assign financial and grant administrators inside the JustGrants portal.
County Attorney Gary Olson said the grants are being reviewed and decisions have been made but "they have not been announced" and that, to his reading, the awards are intended to be spent within the county. Olson added that the county is coordinating with outside technical partners such as a juvenile-justice institute and JJI (quoted in the packet) for planning and evaluation support.
Several commissioners said they welcomed the funding but expressed concern about capacity and clarity. One commissioner asked whether the 20% match would be cash or in-kind; Perry said he believed staff time could cover some of the match but recommended consulting the assigned federal grant manager for confirmation. "I don’t want to say 100% but after looking at solicitation, I’m 80% sure we can have some in-kind match," Perry said.
Commissioners asked for a clearer breakdown of how the awards would be allocated across the county’s fiscal years and how the grants would dovetail with the county’s 2025–2030 youth comprehensive plan. Perry said the first six months would be used to finalize a youth comprehensive services plan and to determine whether services would be delivered solely in-county or include subawards to outside providers; he also said other counties could send residents to services located in York County.
County officials and commissioners agreed on next steps: staff will prepare a clearer budget and match documentation, identify which staff will be assigned as grant administrators in JustGrants, and provide a spending plan for review before the board accepts the awards. The board expects a more detailed proposal at the next meeting and accepted that the federal planning window allows a six-month period to develop the program before full service delivery begins.
The board recessed for other business and will revisit the grant-acceptance paperwork, the proposed match strategy and staffing assignments at the next meeting.
