Columbus City Council has approved the city’s portion of funding to hire a coordinator for a new drug addiction treatment program at the Bartholomew County Jail.
The $28,750 in funding approved on first reading by city council members on Tuesday represents half of the total costs of hiring a coordinator for the rest of this year. The other $28,750 will be provided by the Bartholomew County County Council, which approved its share of the funding on June 11, said council president Matt Miller.
Bartholomew County Jail officials will use the funding to hire a jail addiction treatment program coordinator, who will be tasked with developing the curriculum of the program, said Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Maj. Chris Lane.
Lane said the ideal candidate will have a master’s degree in social work and at least three years of clinical experience. He said he hopes to hire the coordinator in July and that the curriculum will be ready by January.
“This individual’s job will essentially be … to build what’s right for our jail,” Lane said during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
