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The Center for Community Action has agreed to become a fiduciary for the Blair County Prison Re-entry Coalition.
As fiduciary, the CCA can help the coalition raise money, while becoming the repository for donations and other coalition income -- with those donations being tax-deductible because the CCA is a 501(c)(3) organization, according to coalition officials and center Executive Director Wendy Melius.
Coalition officials plan to meet with Melius to work out guidelines for how coalition representatives can forward money to the center and for how the center will disburse funds to the coalition, according to coalition member Caleb McCoy and coalition Director Ken Dean.
That could include rules on using checks, electronic transfers and cash; on how much prison re-entrants should be able to receive and for what sort of expenses and for how long following their release; and how much documentation would be necessary upon dispensing help.
"We need to have a clear idea of where the money comes from and where it goes and who's responsible," Dean said.
It will be important to have a "paper trail" for all the funding, he said.
The coalition has prior knowledge of the release dates of some inmates, but not for some whom judges release during hearings without prior notice, officials said.
For those re-entrants, it might make sense to create a "survival fund" that would enable the coalition to dispense emergency help quickly, Dean said.
It will be important that the fiduciary guidelines give the coalition control of its own money, according to Dean.
If a re-entrant comes out of prison and needs a pair of shoes, the guidelines will need to provide a way for the coalition to issue the money for those, officials said.
Landing the CCA as fiduciary makes it unnecessary for the coalition to follow through on prior plans to become a 501(c)(3) itself, according to Dean and McCoy.
The CCA is a coalition member, Melius said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.