Committee awards $284K among 4 groups in Jasper County

Four local entities were awarded a combined total of $284,000 from the Jasper County Opioid Settlement Committee and the board of supervisors, and it will go towards substance treatment services, prevention programs in an area school district and an expansion for an already existing treatment facility.

Becky Pryor, administrator of Jasper County Health Department and a member of the committee, told supervisors at their Aug. 6 meeting that applications had been accepted until June 30. The committee then interviewed the applicants that it felt were qualified to move on and four recommendations were settled upon.

Capstone Behavioral Healthcare received $70,000 for justice-involved substance treatment programs with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. Julie Smith, executive director of Capstone Behavioral Healthcare, said the organization provides transitional services to county jail inmates.

For instance, the staff member assigned to the program can help individuals with Medicaid applications, housing and other services so that they can transition back into the community as seamlessly as possible. The service was previously funded by Central Iowa Community Services.

“But the issue with the region funding it is because they fund only mental health and it doesn’t allow us to broaden in if someone has just a substance abuse diagnosis,” Smith said. “So this will assist us with helping more people that are incarcerated and transition back into the community.”

Funds from the opioid settlement committee will also go towards a substance abuse counselor to provide evaluations at the jail. Smith noted Capstone does not have a funding source for this and had been providing this service pro bono to the county jail with no reimbursement.

Supervisor Denny Stevenson commended the program, saying that Capstone is catching people while they are sober to make positive changes to their life.

“You have the best chance of getting something done,” said Stevenson, who had worked for the sheriff’s office many years ago. “I talked with people over the years and a lot of times that is what got them started. Somebody got to them while they were sober. I think it’s critical.”

Clearview Recovery, Inc. received $82,000 to go towards Jasper County residents with no insurance coverage for substance treatment for women in Prairie City. Pryor said Clearview has received funds from the committee before but she described the organization as a “success story.”

Scott Pritchard, executive director of Clearview Recovery, Inc., said the programs are going really well. It has been nice, he added, to be able to bring clients in even if they do not have insurance or the proper insurance. They are still able to receive their treatment regardless of that potential barrier.

Colfax-Mingo Community School District received $32,000 to pay for a part-time position to help with the substance prevention program called “Building a Better Community.” It would also go towards the D.A.R.E. program, the TeamMates mentoring program and materials for drug awareness.

Superintendent Tim Salmon said one of the things the district feels is critical is catching kids before a problem starts. Salmon looks at the funding as prevention measures. The position specifically was introduced last year and the district was unable to fund it this year, but the award from the committee changes things.

“We will continue some of our programs this year,” Salmon said. “We’re going to expand our community resources that we have available to connect our families to that. So there are some things we put in last year that we want to continue to expand so we can really catch our kids early and put families in contact.”

Sheepgate, a division of Adult & Teen Challenge of the Midlands, received $100,000 to go towards the proposed expansion of its facility in Colfax. Pryor said Sheepgate wants to construct a new building for substance treatment services. Sustainability was a main factor the committee was concerned with.

Prior to being awarded funds from the committee, Sheepgate raised about $70,000 for the expansion project. Nikki Hook, who works regional operations for Sheepgate, said the residential program is currently for men only, but the organization knows there is a need for more services for men and women.

“We are out of space at our currently location,” Hook said to supervisors. “And so we would like to build a multi-purpose building that we’ll use for non-residential meetings and also to explore and 90-day model for people who have never set foot into a 12-month program.”

Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson said out of the four organizations recommended for funding, three were entirely new applicants: Capstone, Colfax-Mingo schools and Sheepgate. Pryor said the committee would like to wait about one year before giving out another round of funding.

“It’s a lot of work to go through this process, and it would let the funds build up a bit — that way we can fund the projects that are coming forth to us,” Pryor said. “One project that we had come to us was MercyOne about the ER for substance treatment. They’re not going to start their project until 2026.”

While supervisors did have questions about sustainability and reoccurring expenses from a few of the organizations — who assured them they would find room in their budgets to keep programs and positions going — they all agreed to approve the allotment of funds in a 3-0 vote.