Ashland JFS new hires drastically reduce caseload per employee

Barry Fortune
·2 min read
The Ashland County Office Building at the intersection of West Main and Cottage Streets is seen here Tuesday, April 6, 2021. TOM E. PUSKAR/TIMES-GAZETTE.COM

Ashland County Board of Commissioners

Thursday, Feb 16, 2023

KEY ACTION Six new Job & Family Service employees were approved for hire, giving the county its best ratio of cases-to-caseworkers the county has seen in years. The improvement is a direct result of the tax levy that passed, which increased the funding needed to help with JFS and other human relation services.

DISCUSSION “This will put us at a full staff, except for one vacancy,” said Commissioner James Justice. “These replacements are people we have needed for awhile. Instead of a 16 or 20-to-1 caseworker (load) we are down to 8-to-1. We have a staff that is better educated and they know what they are doing. We can’t thank the people enough for that levy. It has made a major difference.”

Bids, grant funding, gas agreement also on agenda

  • Anthony Spencer, Corison Stimes, Danielle Timmons, Natasha Porter, Samantha Phillips and Ami Hines were approved for hire for various positions at JFS.

  • Approved advertising to accept bids until 9:15 a.m. March 9 for liquid asphalt for the 2023 construction season.

  • Tabled a quote from Wooster Glass for $6,031 to replace two windows in the dispatch area of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.

  • Established a deadline of 1 p.m. March 27 to receive applications for projects using FY 2023 Community Development Block Grant funds.

  • Authorized travel for Sarah Stika, Dana Gillespie, Denny Harris and four other maintenance employees for travel to various conferences.

  • Authorized an amendment with Columbia Gas in the line extension agreement for the dog shelter on Baney Road. The amendment will allow Columbia Gas to refund the county a $10,101.95 deposit.

  • Entered into a contract with VSWC Architects to provide services for replacement and upgrade of the fire alarm system at the county jail at a cost of $24,000.

  • Authorized a mason work at the Ashland County Health Department building at a cost of $816.59.

  • Approved advertising to accept bids until 9:20 a.m. March 9 to provide labor, materials, tools and equipment for the 2023 county pavement marking program and bids until 9:25 a.m. on the same day for the concrete asphalt concrete paving program with the same requirements.

  • Approved advertising to accept bids until 9:15 a.m. March 16 for galvanized structural steel and bridge deck materials to replace a superstructure and bridge deck on County Road 1575. The estimate is $439,480, and if it comes in under or up to that bid there will be no local funds used as federal funds will pay up to that amount.

Commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 2, in the Commissioner’s Conference Room on the second floor of the County Office Building. Meetings are open to the public, but also livestreamed on the Ashland, OH County Government Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Thanks to levy, case-to-worker ratio cut at Ashland JFS