"With nearly one in four children in Ohio living in poverty, declining welfare rolls should become a call to action, not a reason to cheer"

The Toledo Blade recently published a very interesting editorial about the dramatic drop in people receiving welfare in Ohio. The editorial also looks that the reasons for why the number of people receiving cash assistance is dropping so rapidly at a time when the number of people living in poverty is not decreasing.

Click here to read the editorial.

Low income voters could play a key role in the November elections

The county Job and Family Services offices in Ohio have registered more than 500,000 voters since 2010. The Toledo Blade recently wrote an outstanding article about this influx of voters and the impact they could have on Election Day.

Click here to read the article.

New report examines how federal tax dollars are spent locally

Athens County Job and Family Services has put together a report examining how our federal tax dollars are spent in all of the counties in Ohio’s newly configured Sixth and 15th Congressional Districts. The report looks at items such as the following:

• How many people receive food, cash and medical assistance in each county in the district,
• How many people receive some form of government healthcare,
• How much the average resident in each county pays in federal taxes, compared to how much each person receives in federal funds spent in each county,
• How many people work for the government in some capacity.

Click here to read the report.

Number of welfare recipients continues to fall in Ohio

The Toledo Blade published an excellent article on Monday, Sept. 24 that looked at Ohio's welfare program. In the article, experts from around the state discuss how a large number of people have been removed from Ohio's cash assistance program due to the work requirements. The article also looks at the national debate over potential changes to welfare work requirements, and how the requirements are implemented in Ohio. Click here to read the article.

WOSU Radio program discusses poverty and drugs in Appalachia

The WOSU Radio program, "All Sides with Ann Fisher," presented a discussion on "The Intersection of Poverty and Drugs in Appalachia," on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The program featured author and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Julia Keller, Portsmouth Counseling Center Director Ed Hughes, and Athens County Job and Family Services Director Jack Frech.

To watch or listen to the podcast online, or for more information on the program, click here.