Butler County officials are seeking a new source of money to continue an inmate treatment and case management program.

County prison Warden Rick Shaffer told the prison board Tuesday the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center cannot continue the inmate re-entry program through 2015 due to a lack of funding.

A $148,000 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant was not renewed.

The funding for the program, which helps released inmates readjust to society, ends in March.

Sheriff Mike Slupe, prison board member, said the Criminal Justice Advisory Board could search for new funding sources.

“We’ll see if anyone else has resources,” Slupe said.

However, he conceded such efforts may be unsuccessful.

“There may not be any money out there,” Slupe said.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein, who also is on the board, insisted the re-entry program be maintained.

“This program is really critical,” Eckstein said.

He said the drug problem in the county makes treatment programs essential.

Eckstein suggested using natural gas drilling impact fee money to fund the re-entry program.

“We’ve got money there,” he said.

But Shaffer cautioned the board to not immediately divert funding for the program, which is only in its second year.

He said it’s premature to determine whether the treatment reduces the number of repeat offenders returning to jail.

“We don’t even know if this works,” Shaffer said.

Eckstein was not swayed, saying the county funds pilot programs such as mental health court without knowing whether it will be effective.

Linda Franiewski, executive director of the Gaiser Center, agreed there is only a small sampling of results to review, but the program has potential.

She said out of 37 inmates who participated in the re-entry program, only a few returned to prison.

Franiewski said the issue is funding.

“I don’t think anybody is opposed to the process,” she said.

The process starts while the inmates are in prison and continue several weeks after they’re released.

“We try to keep them engaged,” Franiewski said.

Among the services provided are teaching inmates coping skills and discussing the concept of addiction with them.

Franiewski said up to 85 percent of inmates need treatment for drug or alcohol addiction.

The county also needs long-term funding for the inmate drug and alcohol education program. The prison board previously authorized Shaffer to use money from the inmate commissary fund to continue that program through the 2014-15 fiscal year.

Although funding of inmate treatment and education programs are dwindling, revenue that partially offsets the expense of operating the prison continues to increase.

County Controller Ben Holland told the other prison board members that revenue, which is mainly generated by housing state and federal inmates, should reach $2.5 million by the end of the year.

The prison was budgeted to bring in nearly $1.9 million this year. However, the extra income isn’t sufficient to make up the total operational cost, which was budgeted at $10.6 million.

Through November, prison revenue reached $2.3 million. Of that total, $2.2 million came from housing out-of-county inmates.

As of Monday, there were a total of 366 inmates, 51 of which were federal prisoners and 36 were state prisoners.