OxfordPress.com

HAMILTON — Pink slips are going out to a dozen employees at Butler County Job and Family Services due to budget cuts at the state and federal levels.

This means long lines at the agency tasked with helping residents with job and income assistance could soon become longer as the need for such programs increases amid a recession.

The layoffs are effective Jan. 30. The agency also is eliminating five other positions through attrition and layoffs, according to Assistant Director Jerome Kearns.

Kearns said the agency has seen its revenues drop 10 percent, leaving a $2.5 million hole to fill. This comes as requests for food stamps ballooned last year from $3.1 million in August to $3.7 million in November.

"We're seeing more folks in all of our offices as a result of the poor economic climate," Kearns said, "so in addition to more demand for our services, we're going to have fewer staff available to process those requests."

Further state and federal cuts on the horizon could reduce the availability of child day care for low-income residents, according to county Administrator Tim Williams, who worried that this could make it harder for some people to hold their jobs.

"The intent from the federal government (for the day care program) is to provide services so clients ... can be employed or employable," said Williams.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Spokesman Dennis Evans said cuts are being looked at across the board — including in day care — but no specific reductions have been identified.

Evans said reductions are necessary as the state revises its budget in a poor economy, most recently cutting 5.75 percent of the agency's $16 billion budget in December.