Corrections funds accepted

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners took formal action Tuesday to accept a grant of Community Corrections Funds for Fiscal Year 2009-2010.

District Court Judge Jeff Middleton, speaking as a member of the Community Corrections Advisory Board, told commissioners that this year’s grant award is for the same amount as last year – $104,100. He also pointed out that – for the 20th year – no money was being requested from the county for the various programs funded by the grant including the cognitive change program, the Day Reporting Center, and a mental health component, the criminal sexual conduct treatment and evaluation program. He also noted that $28,000 from the grant goes toward the salary for Community Corrections Coordinator Nancy Pick.

Middleton indicated that Community Corrections has saved an estimated 25,194 “jail bed days” through prison inmates diverted to jail and jail inmates diverted into some other kind of programming, “not to mention the benefit of the program and, particularly, with the sexual conduct treatment programming and domestic assault treatment programs.”