JFS .5 mil Services Levy needed to fill void after state cuts

Mor­row County Job and Fam­ily Ser­vices has a .5 mil levy on the bal­lot this Novem­ber and is in need of sup­port for the levy.

Mor­row County Job and Fam­ily Ser­vices, Fam­ily and Chil­dren Ser­vices Unit is charged with the respon­si­bil­ity of keep­ing chil­dren safe. Chil­dren Ser­vices is the Agency required by State Law to inves­ti­gate reports of abuse or neglect and is under close super­vi­sion of the State of Ohio. They are reviewed and mon­i­tored on a reg­u­lar basis. Addi­tion­ally Mor­row County Job and Fam­ily Ser­vices is one of 22 Agen­cies out of the 88 that exist statewide to achieve Accred­i­ta­tion by the inde­pen­dent Coun­cil on Accred­i­ta­tion. The Coun­cil on Accred­i­ta­tion is a national orga­ni­za­tion that pro­vides review of social ser­vices agen­cies and those meet­ing strin­gent stan­dards are awarded Accred­i­ta­tion. Mor­row County Job and Fam­ily Ser­vices has been accred­ited since 2007. We believe this dis­tinc­tion speaks to the excel­lence that the Agency has achieved and strives to maintain.

Over the past 4 years the Agency has lost nearly half of the State and Fed­eral fund­ing. Bud­get cuts resulted in staff reduc­tions in Chil­dren Ser­vices from 18 to 8. These reduc­tions have also led to a reduc­tion in pre­ven­tive and sup­port­ive ser­vices that were crit­i­cal in keep­ing out of home or fos­ter place­ments low.

About three years ago the cost of place­ments exceeded the Agency resources and this became a lia­bil­ity of the County gen­eral fund. There are no fed­eral or state dol­lars to cover these costs and per Ohio Revised Code becomes a local oblig­a­tion. This lia­bil­ity now com­petes for dol­lars needed for all other depart­ments in the county. Pas­sage of the Chil­dren Ser­vices levy will help reverse that bur­den and also result in free­ing up dol­lars for other areas and depart­ments in the county.

These funds are needed to sup­port ser­vices to our most vul­ner­a­ble chil­dren. Please con­sider the needs of our chil­dren as you vote this year.

Posted by Taylor Kaser on Oct 17 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.