Money from the Porter County Substance Abuse Council Drug Free Dollars will be allocated to 27 different programs and entities throughout the county, including $5,500 to the Chesterton Police Department for the CPD’s canine unit.

Substance Abuse Council Director Sharon Cawood presented her annual list of Drug Free Dollars requested for 2010-2011 to the Porter County Council on Tuesday. The total amount the substance abuse council requested for this year is $317,867.13 while total available funding from 2009-2010 amounted to only $160,800.

The money will go to programs in three different categories. Programs and centers focused on prevention education, mainly high schools and youth programs, have been awarded $40,200 total. Treatment and Intervention places like the Moraine House and Alice’s Halfway House for Women totaled $42,136 in awarded funds. The last category, Justice, where funds are awarded largely to town and city police departments reached $40,005.

The list and distribution of drug-free dollars met both the county council’s approval and previously the county commissioner’s approval at their July 20 meeting.

The Substance Abuse Council Office has also been given $38,459 from this past year for its administrative services.

Cawood explained the Drug Free Community Dollars are collected from a $200 fee charged to those convicted of drunk driving. Seventy-five percent of that amount is given to fund county anti-drug programs while the remaining cut goes to the state’s drug-free programs.

The breakdown for the anti-drug programs is as follows:

Valparaiso High School, $6,500 for Student Assistance Program, $1,000 for Natural Helpers; Portage High School, $2,000 for Natural Helpers; Wheeler High School, $2,000 for Natural Helpers; Boone Grove High School, $2,000 for Natural Helpers; Drunk Driving Task Force, $5,000; Portage Elementary, $3,800 for Core Values program; CHOICES, $5,000 for Teen Choices; Porter County Alcohol and Drug Offender Service, $5,200 for DUI/DWI modules; Porter County Boys & Girls Club, $1,000 for membership scholarships; RR Committee, $1,000 for Red Ribbon campaign; and Juvenile Detention Center, $1,500 for JDC Drug Court training.

Frontline Foundation, $7,636 for Lab Works; Care Counseling, $3,000 for Relapse Prevention, $6,000 for Intensive Outpatient Program; Alice’s Halfway House for Women, $1,800 for drug testing, $1,700 for counseling services; Moraine House, $3,000 for scholarships and $500 for drug testing supplies; Respite House, $3,000 for scholarships and $500 for drug testing; Valparaiso High School, $5,000 for High School IOP program; Juvenile Detention Center, $5,000 for juvenile and family drug testing; CHOICES, $5,000 for Relapse Prevention/IOP;

Chesterton Police, $5,500 for drug dog/canine unit; Burns Harbor Police, $2,003 for Laser/Radar and $2,034 for portable radios; Drunk Driving Task Force, $5,500; Valparaiso Police, $5,500 for its drug dog/canine unit; Kouts Police, $1,356 for portable radios; Portage Police, $3,310 for Electronic Warnings System; Indiana State Police, $200 for drug dog/canine unit; Hebron Police, $2,806 for taser guns; Prosecutor’s office, $8,000 for drug and alcohol testing; Porter County Sheriff’s Department, $2,200 for protective equipment; Ad. Probation, $1,596 for the Alco-Senser FST hand-held breath alcohol test.

Posted 7/29/2010