EATON — The Preble County Board of Commissioners met with representatives from PC Jobs and Family Services (JFS) on Monday, Jan. 30, and received the department’s monthly updates.
JFS Director Rebecah Sorrell began the updates with the child placement expenditure totals from 2022, where there were 635 reports, 209 of which were screened. According to Sorrell, costs for local foster homes licensed by JFS totaled $12,840. Costs for JFS networks totaled $1,523,250. Costs for residential and group homes totaled $736,762. The cumulative total for child placement in 2022 tallied $2,272,772.
Sorrell added, open cases are not totaled in but will be included in the JFS annual report to the commission.
Assistant Director Erin Harris also remarked on the recent layoffs at Silfex. Harris noted, 7 percent of the company’s workforce was laid off, which equates to roughly 1,300 individuals between the Eaton location and the location in Springfield. According to Harris, a company enacting layoffs will issue a “warn notice” to JFS, however Silfex issued no such notice.
“Normally we like to try to meet with people who will be affected by the layoffs. The state talks about when and how to file for unemployment, and we talk about the services we have in the job center. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that,” Harris remarked.
“Hopefully we can work with Silfex and maybe share some information they can send out to the people that were affected, and at least still get that information out there,” concluded Harris.
Sorrell also updated the commissioners on the end of emergency allotments provided during the pandemic coming some time in February. Individuals who qualified for extended food assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic will be reduced to their previous pre-covid amounts. According to Sorrell, 1,880 households in Preble County will be directly impacted by these reductions.
Sorrell expects reductions will place strain not only on those who currently receive food assistance, but those working at JFS, and all the food banks in Preble County. Sorrell added, grocery stores will also lose a large portion of business, possibly causing strain on retailers.
Not only will food assistance be reduced, but those eligible for Medicaid will be greatly diminished. Medicaid became more easily attainable during the pandemic, but now it too is being restricted.
“People are going to start losing their Medicaid. Also, during the pandemic, people were presumed eligible, they didn’t have to go through the renewal process to make sure they were eligible for Medicaid. That is going to be more on a rolling system. It’s not going to be one time like the food stamps that are cut off in February. It’s going to be based on what their renewal date was,” stated Sorrell.
“I believe the first month people will begin to lose their Medicaid is April. April 30 will be when it will close. And all these things are going to affect all ages. It’s going to affect children who may not be able to get medical services after April. It’s going to affect our elderly; it’s going to be widespread across our county.”
Sorrell and Harris expressed their sympathy for the households in need but are confident Preble County will adjust quickly.
Reach Nathan Hoskins at 937-683-4057.
