Friday, May 07, 1999
Children's agency faces cuts
Lost levy threatens services
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — A large budget ax is looming over Butler County Children Services in the wake of the resounding defeat in Tuesday's election of its 2.4-mill levy.
The county commissioners directed the Children Services Board on Thursday to plan a bare-bones budget for next year in case the agency is unable to earn voter approval for a levy before the end of this year.
The agency must prepare to reduce its services to only those mandated by the state, the commissioners said.
“It's a difficult thing to do, but the voters have spoken loud and clear that they do not support the levy,” Commissioner Courtney Combs said. “The board needs to prepare for cuts from the top down.”
Butler County voters rejected the Children Services' levy by 13,054 votes (57 percent) to 9,873 (43 percent). The levy would have generated $12.6 million a year.
A 2-mill levy was defeated last November.
The Children Services Board almost certainly will place another levy on the November ballot. But the commissioners said the board can't wait until after the election to prepare for cuts.
If no levy is approved before the end of the year, when the agency's existing 2-mill levy expires, the county commissioners must pay for state-mandated children services.
Children Services officials will meet with the commissioners over the next few weeks to develop a contingency budget and to discuss other actions, said Linda Lee Smith, spokeswoman for the agency.
The agency employs 126 staff members and has a 1999 budget of $19.5 million.
Ms. Smith said 65 percent of the agency's revenue is spent directly on caring for children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect, while 4.4 percent is used for administrative overhead.
The Children Services Board wants to conduct a public survey to determine why the levy failed.
“I think it's essential that we not guess about what issues caused people not to support this levy,” said Robert Cottrell, board president.
The survey will help the board decide how large a levy to put on the ballot, he said.
The commissioners also suggested that the public, other agencies and the families that have received services from Children Services be surveyed by an independent group about their perceptions of Children Services and the job it's doing.
“This could tell Children Services how they can change some of their policies to build more trust with the public,” Commissioner Mike Fox said.
Mr. Fox has criticized the agency for not being open enough with the public.
Ohio requires children services agencies to investigate and assess risk to children in all abuse, neglect and dependency cases; to offer safety and placement plans for children needing them; and to provide adoptive services and post-adoptive services, said Ron Browder, chief of the bureau of child and adult protection.
The agency can contract out all services except investigations, he said.
Cutting Butler County Children Services' budget will be a difficult task, said Crystal Allen, assistant director of the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio in Columbus.
The organization is a professional association for all 88 county children services agencies in Ohio.
“Butler County, like most other children services agencies, is probably operating on a tight budget as it is,” Ms. Allen said. “I don't know what they'll cut.”
The county may decide to lay off some caseworkers, she said.
But Ms. Smith said the average caseworker in the agency already handles eight more cases than the state recommends.
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