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Job and Family Services not reopening northern office

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by Jeff Saunders

Reporter

North Summit County -- More than two years after the Summit County Jobs and Family Services closed its Macedonia satellite office, there is no telling when a new office will open.

"The problem ... is financial and potential cuts Job and Family Services is getting from the state and until we get a handle on the bleeding, we really can't make any decisions on that," said Jason Dodson, chief of staff for County Executive Russ Pry.

County Director of Operations Craig Stanley said that in 2006, the office's last year of operations, Job and Family Services paid nearly $97,000 to lease space in the county-owned building on Valley View Road.

The agency, which Dodson said has about 425 employees overall, offers a wide variety of social and job search-related services for adults, children and families. It also is responsibility for determining the eligibility of county residents for a little over $700 million in annual cash assistance, including Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps, said Sarah Kisner, Job and Family Services executive director.

The North Summit County office was in the city's former city hall on Valley View Road, which the county had been leasing from the city until it purchased the 8,157-square-foot structure for $705,000 in September 2004.

Job and Family Services then closed its office at the beginning of 2007. At that time, the closure was supposed to have been temporary and Stanley said there were plans to expand the office. However, he said, this changed when the Bureau of Motor Vehicles license bureau and Summit County Clerk of Court's title agency both opted to move late last year into a shared space in Northfield Village's Summit Plaza. In addition, Dodson said the county would prefer finding a Job and Family Services location in Twinsburg Township, which contains a higher concentration of low income residents than Macedonia and Northfield Village, so the county plans to sell the now empty building.

Dodson, however said that uncertainties over the agency's financial situation have put opening a new office on indefinite hold, especially since operating funds Job and Family Services receives from the state are unlikely to increase and may fall.

According to Kisner, the agency's $76 million operating budget includes about $62 million in federal dollars, about $13 million from the state and less than $1 million from the county.

"Next year's [state] allocation is probably at best going to remain static," said Dodson.

Kisner said it is difficult to say how much inconvenience the office's closure has caused for the approximately 1,400 clients who used it.

However, she said that while there was a period of adjustment immediately after the office closed, she has heard few complaints.

"There were some concerns, but they were minimal," she said.

According to the sale agreement between the county and the city, the city has first right of refusal if the county ever decided to sell the building.

"We'd like to sell it back to the city of Macedonia," said Stanley.

Mayor Don Kuchta, however, said the city is struggling with a tight budget.

"We can't afford to buy that," he said. "Especially now with the economy the way it is, unless we get a windfall."

Stanley said it is uncertain when the building will be formally put on the market.

"Nothing's moving anyway. It's tough out there," he said.

For more information about Summit County Job and Family Services, go to www.co.summit.oh.us and click on the Job and Family Services link under Services, or call 330-643-8200. The agency can also be reached through the county's main toll free line, 800-582-2699.

E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169