Agencies Wait For State Budget Fallout
COLUMBUS, Ohio—A look around Jennifer Smith-Dudash’s office and it is obvious she is in thebusiness of helping people get jobs. Her clients are the deaf.
About 300 are referred to the Columbus Speech and Hearing Center each year by the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission. But the future is unclear.
“Less money, in our situation, more people because people are being laid off. But less time to spend with that person, or less time to be able to work with employers in the community to help these individuals move into a position,“ explains Smith-Dudash.
Like all state agencies, the Rehab Services Commission must find ways to save. A look at the new state budget finds they lost 30 percent of their funding over the next two years. That equals $11.6 million.
They are required by law to look for alternate funding sources.
The fallout for the Speech and Hearing Center looks like this: Ten percent of their budget comes from the state to run the jobs program.
Layoffs and voluntary separations have reduced their staff and reduced the number of hours they can work with clients from 20 to 10 a week.
Speech and Hearing officials are not sure how much they will lose under the new state budget.
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Reader Reactions
I only wish they had the funding they need… I wish I could help monetarily but the economy stinks for me as it does so many others. One day I will provide support because the society helped when I was only 5. I could have lost my hearing. Thanks to them I now have better hearing than most around me.
The problem with the Rehabilitation Services Commission is that they are 79% federally funded. However they are required to put up 21% in state dollars to draw down the federal dollars. So a reduction of $1 of state dollars translates into an additional reduction of over $3.10 in federal funds, totalling 4.10 dollars. For the most part, this money is spent in Ohio, to purchase medical, educational, or employment services. So for every dollar we take away from the Ohio Rehabilitation Services, we lose $4 from Ohio’s economy. This is a terrible investment.
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