Dear friends,

Some of you may have noticed changes at Job and Family Services. A few of the people you have come to know may be changing roles, or leaving. Some of the agency’s programs may also change, or even disappear.  

No matter what changes, you can always count on this: we are committed to serving this community and meeting our mandates of child protection, child support collection and family assistance. For more than 60 years, we have been the center of efforts to help Hamilton County’s most vulnerable residents, and that continues to be my vision.   

But these are challenging times for all of us. The declining economy has increased the demand for social services, while the funds to provide those services are shrinking. At the Department of Job and Family Services, we are being asked to do more with less. 

Over the past year, we have experienced an almost 10 percent increase in the number of people seeking food stamps and cash assistance. With the economy showing no sign of a rebound, we expect this to continue. We also expect an increase in delinquent child support, health care applications, even in child welfare cases.  

Meanwhile, we trimmed our operating budget because of deep cuts to state and federal funding – cuts that promise to be much more extensive in the next two years.  

With that in mind, we are re-aligning our resources. We will cut costs and eliminate management and support positions in favor of frontline positions and meeting the increased demand from those who need us. You may have noticed some of our people in top leadership positions are leaving or changing roles. Those changes will continue.  

We also are focusing our resources on our mandates. We will no longer be able to support some initiatives that fall outside our mandates. And, in some cases, we will even have to cut back on the level of service we provide in attempting to meet a mandate. 

I know many of you are struggling with these same issues. Whether you are a single mother wondering how to pay this month’s rent, or a social service agency wondering how to help that same mother, you have been hit hard by this economic downturn. 

We will get through this -- together. One thing that makes me very proud of this community is how it comes together to help those in need. This as an opportunity to focus ourselves on the most critical needs of the community and to find creative, cost-effective ways to deal with less critical problems that fall outside our mandates.  

We may change, but we will not give up. You can continue to count on us when it comes to working today for a better tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Moira