By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Since becoming director of Juvenile Services for the 20th Judicial District in 2016, Marissa Woodmansee has been able to carry over funds from the previous year into the next year's budget. Tuesday morning, she sought approval from the Barton County Commission to move $99,010.93 into her 2025 budget.
"The beauty of these funds is we have been in a fortunate position that we haven't had to utilize our carryover money," she said, "so this money continues to grow for us because our state block grant supports the work that we're doing."
Nearly $78,000 of the total is from core programming, which is intake and assessment, intensive probation, and case management. The funds can be used to purchase equipment or pay operational costs. Just over $21,000 is from intermediate intervention, or Juvenile Services' diversion program, and must be used for the populations served by Juvenile Services.
"You'll see that bulk of money is specifically for incentives, evidence-based programming, maybe it's sustenance, maybe it's mental-health evaluations and/or any other behavior health component that may be required," Woodmansee said.
Central Kansas Community Corrections Director Brooke Haulmark also requested and was approved to carry over $73,265.74 into that organization's 2025 budget.