The first three people hired for the new operation have all moved on, but a new trio is now in place. The new unit, responsible for administering federal justice program grants throughout the county, is currently operating under the leadership of Kathy Crandall. Crandall served as Whitehall's administrative deputy in charge of risk management, grant work and criminal justice policy matters, among other duties. However, in Franklin County and elsewhere around the country, justice programs tend to be treated as separate entities, in Crandall's opinion. Law enforcement is one aspect, operating separately from prosecution, which is independent of corrections, which has little relationship to rehabilitation.
Programs involving juveniles are often a mechanism unto themselves.
This compartmentalized approach, with little integration of services, tends not to produce the best decisions about using limited resources, Crandall said. Now, in addition to monitoring and administering approximately 174 justice program grants, the members of the unit will be involved in creating a strategic plan by which available funding for these programs is married to the needs of community through efforts that get the job done, Crandall said. Two different policy boards will be involved in this effort, according to deputy county administrator Burton. One is the Criminal Justice Planning Board, of which Commission President Dewey R. Stokes is a member, and the other is the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, on which Commissioner Arlene Shoemaker serves. Working with these board members, Crandall and her staff will seek to compile an inventory of all existing justice-related programs currently in operation in the county.