Troubled Times Make Agency More Relevant than Ever

I recently received a newsletter from the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors Association that really drove home the point of how important this agency is to this community right now.

The newsletter was full of depressing statistics: Ohio has three of the top 10 poorest cities (Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo) in the United States; teen pregnancy is again on the rise; state revenues are lagging estimates; unemployment continues at a high pace; the food stamp rolls in Ohio have climbed by 42 percent in the past two years and state subsidies to county JFS organizations have been cut drastically over the past two years.

All are grim statistics, especially when considered together. These are the times we live in.

I hope that those in need — whether it be the teen mother whose child is at risk of abuse, the unemployed father who needs to feed his family or the single mother who needs help collecting child support to pay her rent and utilities — can see our agency as a beacon of hope right now. We are an agency that helps, and, at this time, we are needed more than ever.

by Jim Tinker

Filed Under: Communication

Tagged: child abuse, Child Support, hamilton county department of job and family services, moira weir, poverty, public assistance, teen pregnancy