The Athens County Job and Family Services websites are being changed

The websites for Athens County Job and Family Services, The Work Station and the Athens County Child Support Enforcement Agency have all been taken down and are being moved to a new web address.

Along with the websites being taken down, a few office e-mail addresses that Athens County residents previously used to contact the Athens County Child Support Enforcement Agency, Job and Family Services and The Work Station are also no longer operable.

Ohio Benefit Bank to offer free tax assistance program at The Work Station

Volunteers from the Ohio Benefit Bank will be available at The Work Station in The Plains again this year to help area residents with annual incomes of less than $60,000 file their basic tax returns.

A limited number of appointments will be available during tax season, and area residents must call 740-677-4278 on Mondays and Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in order to make an appointment. The person scheduling the appointments will only be available during those hours. No appointments will be scheduled at other times during the week.

State needs to stop taking jobs out of Athens County

The state of Ohio is planning to take approximately 60 jobs out of Athens County later this year and move them to Columbus.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Michael Colbert announced today that the state is moving its child support payment processing center and unemployment call center out of The Plains and to Columbus. The two offices are currently located in the same building.  Colbert explained in an e-mail to County Job and Family Services directors that the closing is part of a statewide cost-savings initiative.

Annual Report shows high number of people living in poverty in Athens County

The Athens County Job and Family Services  2011-2012 Annual Report provides information on all of our programs and services. The annual report also shows how demand for many of our programs has grown in recent years, provides budget statistics, and features comments from a few of our clients.

Click here to read our 2011-2012 Annual Report.

More than 6 million people in the U.S. receive Food Stamps but have no cash income

The number of U.S. households on Food Stamps with no cash income continues to grow at an alarming rate, according to a new report from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

The report, “Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2011,” indicates that the number of Food Stamps recipients with no cash income rose to more than 6.5 million in 2011. By comparison, 5.8 million U.S. residents received Food Stamps but had no cash income in fiscal year 2010, and 4.5 million Food Stamps recipients had no cash income in fiscal year 2009.