Hancock County officials are looking to take advantage of a new matching program offered by a state agency.
During the Hancock County Council budget meeting June 4, the council approved directing the Hancock County Commissioners to write to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction, asking to be considered for a matching grant program.
Discussions started when council member Keely Butrum mentioned an email from FSSA sent to officials across the state, detailing that political entities that received opioid settlement money could submit a letter of intent by June 30 to the division to match funds for certain projects.
The Division of Mental Health and Addiction is responsible for the state’s opioid settlement money. The state of Indiana has received almost $1 billion from settlements with companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and Kroger with regard to the opioid addiction crisis. Currently, Hancock County has $627,500 in restricted opioid settlement funds, and $180,500 in unrestricted funds.
Councilwoman Robin Lowder noted that the money is from the state, not from taxpayers.
“It’s important for the public to understand these are not tax dollars,” she said.
The FSSA emails name three categories for applications: recovery housing, with a maximum amount of $500,000; substance abuse and misuse prevention, with a maximum amount of $150,000; and transportation roundtrip services to support individuals with recovery efforts, also with a maximum amount of $150,000.
Over the past few weeks, several organizations, including Greenfield Church of God and Talitha Koum Women's Recovery House, have approached the county council asking for a portion of the opioid settlement money to fund various efforts relating to transitional housing in Hancock County.
Butrum said Talitha Koum is classified as a Level III by the DMHA, which means it is fully staffed but does not have medical credentials. She added that if Greenfield Church of God builds men’s transitional housing, it would plan to become a DMHA-certified facility.
Council members noted there could be other efforts relating to combating opioid addiction across the county, perhaps some the council may not know about. The letter of intent could bring those proposals to the attention of the council.
Butrum, who serves as the president of the board of directors for Talitha Koum, said a potential use of the match could be used to assist with the proposed transition housing for the Greenfield Church of God or the proposed second phase of Talitha Koum, leaving several hundred thousand dollars of the county’s opioid settlement money for other uses.
“That still leaves about $300,000 for other allowable uses that aren’t residences,” she said.
During the meeting, council members formed a subcommittee to lead the grant application with the state FSSA. The subcommittee will report its findings to the whole council for further action. The subcommittee will consist of commissioner Bill Spalding and council members Tammy Settergren and Scott Wooldridge.
The discussion during the meeting was the first step in asking the public for a proposal to use the match if the county receives the match. A letter detailing which projects qualify and how the process would work for the potential match grant will be written and made public.