By Aimee Hancock
Miami Valley Today
TROY — The Board of Miami County Commissioners voted Tuesday to authorize the county’s Common Pleas Court to submit a grant application to the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (MHAS) Specialized Dockets Subsidy Project.
This project assists drug courts and other specialized dockets with funding to effectively manage addicted offenders in the community. The amount of funding requested is $30,000, and may be used to offset payroll costs for specialized dockets staff members, and to pay for clinical services provided by Ohio MHAS-certified addiction and/or mental health providers. Funds may additionally be used for things like medication-assisted treatment, urinalysis, and recovery supports for state fiscal year 2021.
According to Common Pleas Court Administrator Stacy Smith, Judge Jeannine Pratt was invited to apply for this grant after being contacted by a representative from the Ohio MHAS.
“This is our first-ever exposure to this grant, so we’re pretty excited for the opportunity,” Smith said.
Commissioners also authorized the county engineer to purchase a new utility trailer from Fullenkamp’s Frenchtown Trailer Sales & Supply Co., of Versailles, at a cost not to exceed $5,487, to be paid from road funds.
According to Engineer Paul Huelskamp, the trailer will be used for seeding and strawing operations. Currently, these operations are handled with a straw blower, which is placed on a dump truck, and which requires county employees to climb on the truck to feed the straw into the blower.
“This (new) trailer will be set up with a straw blower on it permanently, (and) it’s not as high as trying to get into the dump truck to feed the straw in,” Huelskamp said. “It’s kind of a convenience and safety thing, as well.”
Commissioners authorized a mental health counseling/therapist contract with Samaritan Behavioral Health Inc., of Troy, for the provision of counseling services to families and youth working with the Child Protective Services Division of the Miami County Department of Job and Family Services.
According to JFS Director Teresa Brubaker, this contract includes mental health assessments, case management, family and individual counseling, as well as attendance at treatment team meetings, case coordination meetings and court hearings.
The contract shall not exceed $43,200 for the term of Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021. Brubaker noted this year’s contract cost is the same as in 2020.
Commissioners authorized a contract for chemical dependency counseling services TCN Behavioral Health doing business as Miami County Recovery Council. These services will benefit families and youth working with the Child Protective Services Division of the Miami County Department of JFS. The contract shall not exceed $24,000 for the term of Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021.
The Board of Commissioners will be touring the Pella Corp. facility, in Troy, on Feb. 24, beginning at 10 a.m.
