Board recommends $1.2 million in substance abuse prevention efforts

Officials are recommending that Bartholomew County and Columbus spend more than $1.2 million dollars on local efforts to fight drug addiction in the coming year.

The community’s Substance Abuse Public Funding Board met this week and recommended that the city and county split the cost of the programs 50/50 when approving next year’s budgets. The board was established to advise the city and county on how to spend revenue set aside for drug abuse prevention programs from a public safety income tax. The funding board includes officials from the city, county and Columbus Regional Health.

The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress and Sober Living requested $555,380, the Recovery Enables A Life for Men program in the county community corrections department requested $229,78, the Bartholomew County Courts Adult Drug Recovery Court requested just over $248,19 and the Bartholomew County Jail Addiction Treatment Program requested more than $189,414.

After being approved by the board, the requests will now go to the city and county councils, said Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration and community development.