Title
CONSIDERATION OF GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $55,701 COMCARE TO PROVIDE CORRECTIONS LIAISON SERVICES.
Presented by: Marilyn Cook, LSCSW, Executive Director, COMCARE.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the grant and authorize acceptance of the grant.
Body
Grant Renewal: Yes
Never Applied: No
Applied; not awarded: No
Grant Summary and Timeline:
Background: The Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) has provided a grant to COMCARE for a Corrections Liaison Specialist for the last five years. On average 1,150 to 1,200 offenders are released from Kansas correctional facilities to Sedgwick County annually. Of these, a many as 20% require some level of mental health care upon release. COMCARE has received this grant from the State of Kansas Dept. of Corrections to serve this population. The grant funds a staff person for the following functions:
1. Provide care-coordination services to offenders preparing for release from Kansas prisons, at El Dorado, Winfield, Hutchinson and Wichita Work Release Facility in person; also serving offenders who may be scheduled for release from Lansing, Norton and Topeka Correctional Facilities and Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility, as much as possible, by phone or video; working with discharge planners, other mental health staff, Community Offender Reentry-Pathways (COR-Pathways) staff, unit team staff, and others as appropriate, to deliver the services covered by this agreement, to ensure access to treatment upon release has been arranged and secured, working with transitional/discharge planning teams, acting as a liaison to COMCARE to help set up these treatment services, and coordinating the delivery of these services.
2. Participate in multi-discipline team meetings with parole/reentry staff, and any other treatment provider, peer mentor, or other person working with the offender on his/her reentry/reintegration and risk reduction efforts, to provide input into case planning, and ensure all services available through COMCARE are available to the offender; and to address accessing benefits or any other resources needed to support the plan to which this person can contribute, through COMCARE or other resources/connections in the community.
3. Serve as point of contact at COMCARE for parole officers/reentry case managers who are seeking an updated assessment of mental health care needs, to ensure the parole supervision/reentry case plan are consistent with mental health needs; and that offenders are assigned to specialized mental health staff appropriately; and otherwise, serve as point of contact for parole/reentry staff who seek information about offenders receiving services at COMCARE if there is a need to assist in getting information exchanged between corrections and COMCARE regarding offenders under supervision or involved in reentry planning;
4. Work with KDOC mentoring coordinators to identify peer mentoring needs of offenders with mental illness, and assist reentry/parole staff in connecting offenders to peer mentoring resources when available and as appropriate; and
5. Assist in addressing housing needs of offenders with mental illness, making contacts, recommendations, and otherwise accessing resources to pay for housing and to identifying safe and affordable housing, in collaboration with reentry/parole staff.
Analysis: KDOC provides the sum of $55,701 to cover the salary, benefits and travel for the Corrections Liaison/Specialist. COMCARE agrees to cover the other costs related to this position, including monthly allotment for cell phone reimbursement, training, and supplies, which is anticipated to be no more than $1,353.44 for the period of twelve months covered by this agreement. These costs will constitute an in-kind match by COMCARE. All costs are paid from internal order number 310016-12. There should not be any additional impact to County resources since this is an existing position and has been functioning in this role for five years. The staff person is housed at the COMCARE Centralized Intake and Assessment Center.
Financial Considerations:
Grant period starts: 07/01/2011
Grant period ends: 06/30/2012
Source of funding
Grant: $55,701.00
Required Match: The grant covers the full cost of the Corrections Liaison position's salary, benefits and travel. COMCARE covers all other expenses ( cell phone reimbursement, training and supplies etc.)
Required Cash Match:
Required In-Kind Match: approximately $1,353.44
Other funding:N/A
TOTAL SOURCES
Uses of funding (Note: Include any Required Matches in your totals)
Operational costs: $55,701
Personnel: $44,542
Contractual services: $12,012.44
Operational supplies:
Equipment:$500
Indirect administrative costs:
Capital projects cost:
TOTAL USES $57,054.44 ($55,701 grant and $1,353.44 in-kind match) (Total Uses of Funding should Match Sources)
Source of matching funds: 310016-12 (Personnel matches should include Position Numbers and Cost Centers)
Source of other funding: N/A
Budget Authority Adjustment: No, we have received this grant for a number of years and it is included in the budget.
Personnel considerations: The position was added to the staffing table on June 28, 2006, and has been providing services since this time.
Expected measurable outcomes: The goal of the grant is to reduce the risk of an offender reoffending or returning to prison; so addressing the treatment needs of returning offenders increases community safety and reduces recidivism. In fact, over the course of the last six years, return rates for offenders with mental illness has declined by 35%.
Alternatives: Without the grant, COMCARE would not allocate a full time staff person to perform the duties listed above. The position allows us to focus efforts on assisting individuals involved in the correctional system who have serious mental health issues.
Policy Considerations: COMCAREs mission is to help people with mental health and substance abuse needs to improve the quality of their lives. This grant allows us to implement a more coordinated approach to assisting returning offenders address their mental health and substance abuse uses and reduce the potential for returning to prison.
Legal Considerations: The authority for this action is K.S.A. 19-101. A simple majority is required.