Whitehouse and 49 co-workers have been laid off to make up a $3 million shortfall in the agency caused by state and federal cuts. On Nov. 22, the agency will also close its Middletown office, leaving hundreds who visit the Central Avenue location for food stamps, Medicaid, cash assistance and other services to find transportation to Hamilton or utilize the online or phone application process for benefits.
“I am worried about the clients,” said Whitehouse, an eligibility referral specialist. “It is going to take longer for them to get benefits because there are going to be less people doing the job.”
Approximately 600 to 700 people a month visit the Middletown office.
“But does that mean we will have 600 in Hamilton with 50 less employees? We don’t know that,” said Jerome Kearns, director of Jobs and Family Services.
He noted the agency, which distributes more than $50 million to more than 30,000 recipients each year, has been aggressive in promoting the online and telephone application process. People without Internet access can use a computer at a local library.
“We have an incredible staff,” Kearns said. “They have worked hard to get the job done in a time of their own personal loss.”
The cuts at Butler County’s JFS are a growing trend across the state because of state funding cuts.
Next month, seven counties in northern Ohio will join their departments for services.. The collaboration includes Delaware, Knox, Wood, Hancock, Marion, Morrow and Sandusky counties, according to media reports.
Whitehouse said the “clock is ticking,” as she counted down the days to unemployment, but the office as a whole was working hard to “get as much done a possible.”
“At first it was really quiet and sad,” she said. “But we have come to terms with it and are working to process as many applications as we can.”
Whitehouse, 32, said she knows employees remaining will have a heavier case load and clients will have a longer wait.
With Christmas just around the corner, Whitehouse said she is concerned about her future and providing for a 10- and 12-year-old.
She expects to spend hours on the computer scouring the job market and may have to fall back on her previous profession in home health care.
“I have not been without a job since I was 14 years old,” Whitehouse said. “I know I will find something.”
She leaves her job with a heavy heart already missing the people she worked with and her clients.
“I love what I do,” Whitehouse said, noting she took the job because she thought it would be more stable and gave her chance to help those in need.
On Monday morning, the first day minus 50 employees, JFS “absolutely will be different” to people visiting the office, Kearns said.
The Hamilton office is located at the Government Services Center, 315 High St., on the 8th floor. For more information, call (513) 887-4000 or toll free at (800) 582-4267
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