Direct deposit, debit card replace paper cash assistance checks
Nov. 9, 2008 -- Paper cash assistance checks soon will become a thing of the past. By early 2010, all of the 27,000 Ohio Works First (OWF), Disability Financial Assistance and Refugee Cash Assistance consumers in Hamilton County will either get their monthly payments through direct deposit or the Ohio EPPICard Debit MasterCard. Since July 1, OWF consumers only have had the choice of the two paperless methods.

The Ohio EPPICard Debit MasterCard is issued by Commerical Bank pursuant to a licence by MasterCard International. It can be used wherever the Debit MasterCard Acceptance mark is displayed.

No fees are charged when consumers make purchases at stores, request cash back during purchases, make cash withdrawals at bank teller windows who accept MacterCard, make up to 10 customer services calls per month, and request up to four card replacements per year. Fees are charged when consumers withdraw cash from an ATM, request a balance inquiry from an ATM or perform any international transactions.

For questions about the Ohio EPPICard, call 1-866-320-8822 or visit www.eppicard.com and select Ohio.

H1N1 info for Child Care providers
Nov. 2, 2009 -- A new resource is available for Child Care providers with H1N1 flu questions: A  Web page with fact sheets and links to Web sites, as well as the hotline phone number. Click on the title to this post or visit the Child Care link under Services on this Web site.