Delaware County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday, Aug. 2, to accept two grants from the Ohio Department of Youth Services in the amount of $614,800 to pay for staffing within the Delaware County Juvenile Court.

The grants do not require a local match. That's the good news.

The bad news: The grant, said Rick Smith, fiscal coordinator for the Delaware County Juvenile Probate Court, was lower this year by $128,477 compared to last year.

"We're applying for another grant in the hopes of offsetting the deficit," Smith said.

Commissioner Tommy Thompson expressed his concern over the reduction.

"I just hope that we can get another grant, because that's a significant cut to an important program," he said.

The commission also approved the implementation by the Delaware County Juvenile Court of a $51,716 grant from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.

That grant, too, was reduced from the previous year by $30,871.

The grant money is used to pay for a drug court supervisor.

"We are reviewing and looking at different funding areas to see if we can't get some additional funding to replace the lost funds," Smith said. "We do have enough money in this grant and the last grant to get us through calendar year 2012 without having to come back. We won't have to do any budgetary adjustments in '12 but we'll see where we're at in '13."

Smith said the juvenile court also has applied for a grant from the Council for Older Adults in the amount of $4,600 for its suspension alternative supervisor position.

"We receive referrals from the Council for Older Adults for tasks some of the county's elderly cannot perform themselves, and then our kids who are doing community service are supervised by this individual and go out and do the work," Smith said.

Thompson said the grant would be money well spent.

"I think it's a tremendous service because we do have people in need, and if we have this program and if we have good supervision, it helps to get some things done who can't do for themselves anymore," he said.

Also at last week's meeting, Commissioner Ken O'Brien said he met with the Delaware County 911 Board at the end of July and "had a very productive meeting about the hiring of a new 911 director for the county."

The last director, Bob Greenlaw, resigned in September after three female employees who had been demoted filed complaints alleging discrimination. An investigation paid for by the county found that while the demotions were not punitive, Greenlaw had made sexual comments and created a hostile workplace.

O'Brien said the 10-month search for Greenlaw's replacement essentially came down to two candidates: Bernard Brown and Acting Director Barbara Temple.

"The two disciplines -- law enforcement on the one hand and fire and EMS on the other -- are looking at different aspects of the candidates. They both operate in entirely different ways," O'Brien said. "But I can tell you the city, county and townships are on the same page."

Thompson expressed concern about the differences between law enforcement and fire/EMS.

"I'm really concerned when we're looking at this discipline or that discipline when the choice for a new 911 director ought to come down to public safety," he said.

The 911 board next meets Tuesday, Aug. 7.