Porter County commissioners dole out latest round of opioid settlement funds to nonprofits
The county's Opioid Settlement Funds Committee began taking applications for the awards in January and made its recommendations to the Porter County Board of Commissioners at its meeting Tuesday morning. Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, explained it was agreed five recipients would be selected so as not to create an undue burden in the process.
Duneland Schools will receive $10,000 for student education and prevention, as well as developing a diversion program for students who have been affected by the crisis. Moraine House, Portage Recovery Association, and Three20 Recovery will each receive $25,000.
Moraine House will use the money for house repairs and remodeling. Three20 Recovery will use the money for music, art, fitness, nutrition and faith initiatives to 'continue to try to remove barriers and meet people where they're at,' said executive director Allen Grecula.
Similarly, the Portage Recovery Association will use the money to flesh out a variety of all-inclusive services at its new facility. 'To give them all of these tools to go forward is beyond amazing,' said director Jake Monhaut. The Caring Place will receive $40,000 to aid its women's recovery program.
Porter County will receive approximately $336,000 per year between 2022 and 2038. The county sets aside $200,000 of that to pay the salaries and benefits of the two social workers at the Porter County Sheriff's Department. After the five annual awards, a small balance remains in reserve.
The state's opioid settlement and litigation page on in.gov states that at the height of the opioid crisis in 2012, 112 opioid prescriptions were being written for every 100 Hoosiers.
In other business, the commissioners gave General Insurance Services permission for its advisory panel to explore the possibility of the county adopting an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICRA) for the 1,100 to 1,200 employees and dependants that it insures.
GIS Employee Benefits Advisor Candace Arvin explained to the commission that there are long lead times for implementation of any changes and now is a good time to simply understand what else is available in terms of employee health insurance.
Regnitz said the switch this year to a health savings account-based plan for employees was already a big shift for the county and it should do nothing more than explore at this point.
Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, told Arvin, 'You've got to figure out how to get more aggressive with our plan because it's only going to get more expensive.'
Regnitz praised GIS for keeping the county's health insurance cost increases below industry averages.
'But they have another gear, Barb,' Biggs insisted.
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