LISBON — The Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services spent more than $323 million in funds brought into the county to help residents with Medicaid, food assistance and other public assistance programming last year.

That number was just one of many highlighted in the recently-released 2024 DJFS Annual Report, showing stats for public assistance, children services, adult protective services, social services, child support enforcement, senior services and human resources.

“Our staff works very hard to serve the community and make sure the county residents get the services they’re eligible for and need,” county DJFS Director Rachel Ketterman said.

She pointed out that “a lot of people benefit from our services,” talking about the residents, but the agency also employs a lot of people through contracts, so those companies and individuals also benefit.

The majority of the funding comes from state and federal resources, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), along with the voter-approved Children Services levy, which primarily covers room and board for children in the agency’s temporary custody and those in permanent custody who are up for adoption, and the Senior Services Levy, which covers services to keep seniors independent, such as minor home repairs and accessibility modifications, homemaker help and case management. The county also pays a mandated share, which totaled $194,472.

The biggest assistance expenditure belonged to Medicaid at $294.6 million, then SNAP at $26.7 million, Ohio Works First and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families at 1.7 million and Prevention Retention Contingency (PRC) at $359,048. The top PRC areas of assistance were identified as shoe vouchers at $192,692, shelter/utility assistance at $104,581 and gas vouchers at $25,194.

The number of people on Medicaid was 27,165, 13,008 were receiving food assistance, 533 receiving help through Ohio Works First and 2,677 receiving non emergency transportation at a cost of $982,022. Under long-term care facilities, the report listed 417 residents and 1,110 individuals on a waiver program. Under fraud control, benefit recovery collections totaled $79,694. Under child care, 7,348 children were served.

Purchased services totaled $1,099, 551, which included $272,894 related to child support, $79,598 for social services and $747,058 for public assistance/TANF.

Administration expenses totaled $8,469,344, with $1,491,754 for child support, $2,265,483 for social services, $3,284,664 for public assistance and shared expenses of $1,427,442.

Staffing at DJFS in 2024 totaled 118, with 28 new hires, 16 resignations and one retirement. The breakdown of employees included 49 in the public assistance division, 30 in children services, two in adult protective services, 24 in child support, one in senior services, two in maintenance and 10 shared staff. The majority of employees had less than five years experience, with at least 30 there between five and 15 years, 24 with 15 to 30 years experience and two with 30 plus years at the agency.

Under child protective services, the stats included 12 adoptions, seven emancipations, 15 licensed foster homes, 120 children in placement and 136 children living with relatives. Out of the 20,064 child population in the county, 1,148 were involved with Children Services. The annual net cost of foster care for the agency totaled more than $3.5 million. The Children Services levy generates more than $1.2 million toward that cost.

Under adult protective services, the stats included 398 referrals and 133 investigations, with the referrals including 183 self-neglect, 66 neglect, 122 exploitations, 28 emotional abuse and two sexual abuse.

Under child support enforcement, the total number of cases was 7,964 and total collections was $12.9 million. Paternities established were 63 and orders established totaled 102. There were 447 children emancipated. Money collected through bank intercept totaled $20,866 and income withholdings sent totaled 4,466.

The breakdown of services for the senior services levy totaled 248 homemaker, 163 home repair, 53 guardianship, 29 home care, 33 extermination and six payee. There were 760 seniors served with 6,119 case management hours provided and $859,233 levy dollars spent..

“One of the most remarkable achievements of 2024 was our continued commitment to collaboration and innovation. We recognize that the challenges facing our community cannot be solved by any one agency alone, and we have worked tirelessly to strengthen our partnerships with local non-profits, law enforcement, healthcare providers, schools, and other community organizations. By working together, we have created a more integrated system of care, ensuring that families can access the full range of services they need to thrive,” Ketterman said in her message included with the annual report.

“We will continue to innovate, adapt, and strengthen our services to meet the evolving needs of our community, ensuring that every individual and family has access to the tools and resources necessary to build a brighter future,” she said.

mgreier@mojonews.com