From left are Judge David Cates, Council President Sue Ann Mitchell and Community Corrections’ Anna Bailey.

WARSAW — Kosciusko County’s Superior Court 1 Judge David Cates told the Kosciusko County Council on Thursday, June 13, that a highly successful juvenile-oriented program in the county will likely continue to receive help with funding.

“As of a week ago today, I did receive an email saying our grant was approved,” said Cates, referring to the county’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, or JDAI.

Cates said the grant would total $84,125 and that, aside from some hiccups recently involving local youth, the program has traditionally seen a decrease in the number of juveniles detained as a result of committing crimes.

“My purpose for becoming involved in JDAI was to expand the opportunities for juveniles in our county,” said Cates. “We only want to detain when it’s necessary.”

JDAI is a program that is more than two decades old, designed to provide promising alternatives to juveniles considered low-risk. The initiative moves those individuals from locked facilities into community-based alternative programs.

In other business, the council struggled for a few minutes to approve a request from County Commissioner Cary Groninger for money from County Economic Development Income Tax for several county entities, including the proposed Tippecanoe and Chapman Lake’s sewer district and the Animal Welfare League. The request was for $292,820. Confusion set in with several council members regarding $100,000 of the money, which was already paid to Animal Welfare League, but was being requested by Groninger. It was explained that when the money was paid to AWL, the payment created a drain on the county’s highway department coffers and the appropriated money would be used to balance the books. After two failed votes, the council voted 5-2, with Doug Heinisch and Joni Truex voting against, to approve the request.

The council also:

• Approved an additional appropriation for County Sheriff Kyle Dukes for $11,500.
• Approved an additional appropriation for Anna Bailey of Community Corrections for $34,711.
• Approved an additional appropriation for County Assessor Susan Engleberth for $33,670.
• Heard a presentation from Kosciusko County Community Foundation’s Suzie Light on an upcoming housing study. The study will be available courtesy of a Lilly Endowment community planning grant.
• Approved tax abatements for Cass Holdings, LLC, Louis Dreyfus Company Agriculture Industries, LSC Communications and Seymour-Midwest LLC.