A public agency will be asking for a renewal levy in the fall election. They touched base with the Ross County Commissioners Monday, and Kevin Coleman was there.
South Central Ohio Job & Family Services covers Ross, Hocking, and Vinton counties.
Director Jody Walker explained children come into their care through one of their divisions, Children's Services, because of abuse, neglect, and increasing problems with substance abuse and mental health. If the children can't stay in their homes or have no relatives to take them in, the agency has to place them in foster care or a residence facility.
Foster says their costs have almost doubled in the last 10 years...but they're not asking for an increase, just a renewal - and only for Ross County.
He says the levee funds are only for the juveniles in their care, and they don't use it for administrative or staff costs.
The commissioners mentioned an unused detention facility at the Roweton Center, near the Ross County Juvenile Detention Center and Camp Cattail off Cattail Road. Walker says there are not enough facilities in Central Ohio, causing counties to compete with each other for space.
But Walker says the managers of the facility, Integrated Services for Behavioral Health, found it would be a multimillion-dollar cost to overhaul it.
Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture