Several local agencies are getting their yearly boost from 2011 grant programs through the Montana Board of Crime Control.

At the Northwest Drug Task Force — administered through the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office — that boost is nearly $198,000.

The money, which the task force has been receiving every year for several years, is just  below 10 percent of the task force’s total budget, according to Sheriff Chuck Curry.

“These funds just make it possible for smaller agencies to dedicate officers to the task force and allows us to attempt some continuity in drug enforcement regionally in this part of the state,” Curry said.

As with all grant money, Curry said there’s always a threat of that support disappearing.

“We’re cautious about our reliance on grant funding because, year to year, you never know what’s going to happen to it,” he said.

At the Center for Restorative Youth Justice, based in downtown Kalispell, a pair of grants are key to continuing to provide services.

The agency received roughly $42,000 for its “Making Restorative Justice a Priority” efforts and $17,000 for “Making All Victims a Priority” efforts.

Executive Director Shareen Springer said the victim funding pays the program coordinator’s salary, while the justice funding supports the agency’s victim-offender conference program as well as another program.

“Without the Montana Board of Crime Control, we wouldn’t see the success we have in this community,” Springer said. “Before this, we had one of the highest recidivism rates in the state, now we have one of the lowest.”

Several other agencies across Flathead County and Lake County received grants.

Flathead County government received $50,000 for the Flathead County Youth Connections Program. The Violence Free Crisis Line in Kalispell received more than $35,000 for its Crisis Intervention Project.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lake County/Flathead Reservation received more than $50,000 for its Native American Mentoring Initiative. Lake County Domestic Violence Education and Services in Polson received nearly $31,000 in Victims of Crime Act assistance and a further $18,500 for counseling services.

SAFE Harbour Inc. in Ronan received more than $34,000 for its Futures in Focus program. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Pablo received nearly $33,000 for its victim assistance program.

The grants were part of more than $4 million in funding to 100 programs to provide resources to address crime and provide criminal and juvenile justice services across the state.

A total of $914,178 was provided to drug task forces, $544,275 for juvenile services, $1,540,913 for crime victim services, $146,442 for sexual assault victim services, $100,000 for domestic violence intervention and $810,316 for violence against women programs.