Carbon County commissioners on Thursday ratified another $350,000 loan to its Children and Youth Fund, as money from the state begins to trickle in.

Commissioner Chair Michael Sofranko said the total owed the county from the state is $1,945,000.

After back and forth with the state, the county has secured the first quarter payment of $1,532,216, he said.

The county plans to pay back its general fund $750,000 of the first quarter payment, and the remainder will stay in the Children and Youth fund to allow that agency to pay bills, Sofranko said.

The county is still owed roughly $400,000 from the state, he said.

The state funds approximately 80% of the agency’s budget, but reporting rules and late state budgets have delayed reimbursements, forcing the county to make up the shortfalls in the interim.

Opioid settlement

The commissioners also approved a request from the Jim Thorpe Area School District for $13,875 in Attorney General opioid settlement funds to fund a school-based drug and opiate education and prevention program.

The funding will also support services from a Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol prevention specialist in grades sixth through 12th.

The county has allocated funding to other districts in the previous years, approving requests between $10,000 and $20,000, Sofranko said.

He pointed out that this is not a duplication of services or a reinvention of the school-based DARE drug and alcohol program, but a new program.