One announcement I made that I'm excited about, was the introduction of a website to help our working families get through the current economic crisis. Go to http://www.hamiltoncountyfamilies.com/, and it will provide information on how families can reduce costs and make the most of what they earn.
Other key announcements and initiatives:
- a strategy to provide relief to middle class and working families, including expanding successful Foreclosure Prevention efforts
- reemphasized job creation strategies
- announced efforts to make the County an easier place to do business
- announced a policy that the County and City will insist that all jobs being created through public dollars be listed and made available to County residents, through the Super Jobs Center
- explained that the County will use the stimulus to make strategic investments in construction, energy, transportation, and community revitalization projects
In Public safety, announced new strategies to relieve jail overcrowding and improve safety
Explained Plans to create more accountable and effective government, including:
- Shared Services: pursue shared services whenever possible, from tax collection and purchasing to fire districts—saving taxpayer dollars and creating better service
- A Professionalism and Ethics initiative: assuring that qualifications, hard work and top performance are how our hard-working County employees are judged, rewarded and get ahead—and not other factors (ie. politics) unrelated to the job for which they’re being paid with taxpayer funds.
As I said in closing, I firmly believe that in 2009 and beyond, we can put ourselves on a stronger, more competitive footing than we have been before.
8 comments:
David Pepper addressed no less than two dozen intiatives to benefit the county in both the short and long-term today. Hamilton County is blessed to have someone who works so hard for us. Next time he should make his address on the jumbotron
No one is working harder for the future of Hamilton County than David Pepper. Thank You!
Does the County have a buy Ohio and/or America Policy? If not, will you look into getting one in place to help our fellow workers to keep their jobs? This would be a good intiative. Thanks for listening to the taxpayers and citizens of Hamilton County.
I really liked the tone of your State of the County speech. It was uplifting and inspiring. Furthermore, the content of the speech held great possiblities and had a great vision for our future.
I like the concept of the website to help families. I think it would be great to create either an advocate blog to go along with it to help people or even an open blog that allows neighbors to help neighbors regarding programs.
Also, the benefit bank system (not ours, but other counties) has a benefit calculator on their websites. It allows a family to punch in their particular information and it will tell them if they qualify and approximately how much they will get.
I implore the county to FULLY adopt the benefit bank system with all its advantages. In addition to the benefit calculator, real benefit banks have an "authorized representative" component that we have not implemented. This component is essential for improving access to consumers and REDUCING costs to taxpayers while reducing the burden on the overworked staff at JFS.
(I have used it for a decade) One of the most time consuming and therefore expensive aspects to delivering JFS services is the mandatory client interview. It is also the biggest obtacle for clients who either don't have the time to go down to JFS or are embarassed to go down there. With FULLY implemented benefit banks, a volunteer, via the authorized representative form, can stand in for the client in the "face to face" interview portion of the application process. So if one volunteer in the community organizations helping families helps to connect 10 people a week for services, then a JFS employee can complete 10 face to face interviews in one sitting. A full day's work completed in 1/2 hour.
Also, since I know you have been out front on the issue of tax refunds, I wanted to mention the importance of the Additional Child Tax Credit. This is a huge pot of money - huge. I re-did the taxes of a family who made about 54K with 5 kids (so they're struggling) and the tax credit was worth over 2K. This is close to the maximum a family can get from the EIC. Citizens need to be made aware of this enormous tax credit that, like the EIC, is cash to the family.
I am truly impressed. You have done for Hamilton County all the great things you did for the city of cincinnati. Keep it up!
The Benefit Bank, which began in Ohio in the fall of 2006, is a great tool for helping people estimate whether they are eligible for benefits. The Benefit Bank has always been available from the JFS Web site, www.hcjfs.org, under the "See if you qualify for assistance" link prominently displayed in the top right-hand corner.
I suspect the county does not use independent Benefit Bank calculators because they are not associated with the Benefit Bank itself -- check the official Benefit Bank site and you will see this -- and because these calculators are often wrong and mislead the consumer on what is available to them.
Unfortunately, the Benefit Bank does not eliminate the need for a face-to-face interview. It will point the person to a Benefit Bank site, and ultimatley, to JFS. Here in Hamilton County, the FreeStore Foodbank does use the "authorized representative" model, but most Benefit Bank sites do not want to participate in this way because they are operated by volunteers who do not want to visit JFS on behalf of clients, as those paid workers at the FreeStore do.
Bottom line is, the Benefit Bank is a great tool, but we must put out correct information about it so it is properly used.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer did an extensive article on the whole Benefit Bank system with all the bells and whistles being utilized. The volunteers do not go to the JFS, they have one staffer who weekly visits the community organizations and conducts the "face to face" thereby eliminating the need for the family to go to the JFS office. They even do their "re-certification" via the community organization.
In my use of the Benefit Bank calculator, the rough estimate has been extremely reliable if still available.
The Benefit Bank link being used by JFS is an unecessary obstacle. Why send someone to one of these sites if they still have to go to JFS to get the services? It is an encumbrance to lead clients there when they still have to go to JFS - it's a wasted step.
The only time this MAY be beneficial is if a person is at someplace like the Free Store to get food and may think they don't qualify for other assistance and the processing of the client for food results in the knowledge of eligibility for more services.
This, I think, is a good partnership - but, since the Free Store COULD be processing them entirely needy families fall through the cracks.
I THINK THE COUNTY IS DOING A GOOD JOB. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE CITY AND COUNTY STEP UP WITH SOME STIMULUS MONEY FOR A JAIL I'M TOLD WE HAVE THE LAND. BOTTOM LINE IS NO MATTER HOW WELL WE DO WITH THE BANKS SHARONVILLE ECT.MAKING IT A SAFER PLACE BY GETTING A JAIL DONE AND STOP THE REVOLEING DOOR SO ON LAW ENFORCEMENT CAN SEE SOME SATISFACTION.
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