Schuylkill County commissioners on Wednesday took another step toward keeping people safer by approving a $962,727 Homeland Security grant for the Emergency Management Agency.

The funds will support planning, training, exercises, equipment, and maintenance and administrative functions of the East Central Task Force from September through Aug. 31, 2020.In other matters, commissioners approved several contracts for the Children & Youth Services Agency.The purchase of service agreements with the following providers are from July 1 through June 30, 2018:• Access Services, Orwigsburg, for travel at a per unit rate of $9.90, counseling at a per unit rate of $26.64, CAIR program at a per unit rate of $10,080, and Youth Outdoor Expedition at a per unit rate of $400.• Family Care For Children & Youth, Milton, for family based services, dependent infant with mother, at a daily rate of $36.36, family based services age 3-21 at a daily rate of $68.43, and family based services with visits at a daily rate of $108.71.• Concern, Fleetwood, for community rehabilitative residence board rate at a daily rate of $24.44, medical level II foster care at a daily rate of $74.97, and Treatment Unit For Boys at a daily rate of $205.29.• Ed's U Store It, Pottsville, for storage unit at a per unit rate of $970.31.• Open Door, Reading, for traditional foster care at a daily rate of $41.31, specialized foster care at a daily rate of $72, and mother/child foster care at a daily rate of $94.• Children's Home of York, for foster care at a daily rate of $51.25, foster care at a daily rate of $67.70, and the George Street program at a daily rate of $163.45.Also, there will be no commissioners' meeting held next week. The next meeting will be a work session meeting on Sept. 6, at 10 a.m. in the commissioners' Hofmann Room.