The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government responsible for supervising the state's public assistance, workforce development,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refe ...

compensation, child and adult protective services,

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

, child care, and

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

programs. Prior to July 2013, ODJFS was also the state agency responsible for the administration of Ohio's

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

program. In July 2013, a new state agency was created, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), Ohio’s first Executive-level Medicaid agency. ODJFS employs about 2,300 full time

employee Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any ot ...

s and has an annual

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

of $3.3 billion.

History

On July 1, 2000, the Ohio Department of Human Services and the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services combined to become the ODJFS. ODJFS oversees programs helping unborn babies and their mothers with

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pr ...

issues while also helping unemployed workers and

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

s find food and shelter.

2004 ODJFS and Ohio Auditor's Office joint audit

In December 2004, the ODJFS and the Ohio Auditor's Office launched a joint

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

. As a result, Ohio officials questioned $200 million in tax dollars spent by the Hamiltion County Department of Job and Family Services.

Lifeway For Youth

In 2006, ODJFS took away the license for Lifeway For Youth, a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

-based placement agency, due to the death of a 3-year-old boy.

Barbara Riley Barbara Riley is the former director of the Ohio Department of Aging and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Background Riley has a BA in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University as well as a master's degree in Political Scienc ...

, then the director of ODJFS, questioned "how the private placement agency Lifeway for Youth, Butler County Children Services, and her own department failed the boy."

2008 Ohio unemployment insurance trust fund

For the year 2008, ODJFS sought federal help concerning Ohio's unemployment

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the " sett ...

. State officials had stated that the fund was in danger of running out before the end of the year. On December 5, 2008, ODJFS announced that extended

unemployment benefit Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

payments will start the week of December 22, 2008. Scarlett Bouder,

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the ODJFS, stated that "an estimated 70,000 Ohioans are now eligible for the assistance and thousands more will qualify in the coming weeks as they exhaust their regular benefits."

2008 ODJFS database search

During last few weeks of the

2008 US Presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

campaign, ODJFS director Helen Jones-Kelley, and members of her staff, became embroiled in a controversy over searches of Joe Wurzelbacher's government records. The matter led to substantial

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and ...

attention during the presidential campaign, a new law being signed in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, and a federal

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

Services for Families

ODJFS provides a variety of financial and supportive services to low-income families and individuals, most of whom are employed or seeking employment. A large part of this assistance comes through the Ohio Works First and Food Assistance programs.

Cash and Food Assistance

Ohio Works First (OWF) is the financial assistance portion of the state's

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF ) is a federal assistance program of the United States. It began on July 1, 1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, providing cash assistance to indigent Ame ...

(TANF) program, which provides cash benefits to eligible low-income families for up to 36 months. Federal law requires at least 50 percent of all able-bodied adults receiving benefits to participate in work activities at least 30 hours a week. At least 90 percent of households containing two able-bodied parents are required to participate in work activities at least 35 hours a week or, if they are using federally subsidized child care, at least 55 hours a week. Allowable “work activities” include such things as

on-the-job training On-the-job training (widely known as OJT) is an important topic of human resource management. It helps develop the career of the individual and the prosperous growth of the organization. On the job training is a form of training provided at the work ...

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

directly related to employment.

Child Care

ODJFS offers financial assistance to eligible parents to help pay for child care while they engage in work and training efforts. The agency, along with the county departments of job and family services, is responsible for regulating approximately 6,600 family child care homes, and for licensing and inspecting nearly 4,300 child care facilities. Every day, an estimated 250,000 children under age 6 are cared for in settings outside the home that are certified or licensed in

Child Protective Services

ODJFS administers and oversees the state's child protective services programs. These include programs that prevent child abuse and neglect; provide services to abused and/or neglected children and their families (birth, foster and adoptive); and license foster homes and residential facilities. Child protective services in Ohio are provided by a network of 88 public children services agencies (PCSAs). Sixty-two of these are located within county departments of job and family services, and twenty-six operate independently.

Adult Protective Services

ODJFS administers the state’s Adult Protective Services program, which helps vulnerable adults age 60 and older who are in danger of harm, are unable to protect themselves, and may have no one to assist them. ODJFS has the authority to plan and develop programs, and write rules and regulations pertaining to adult protective services. It also provides technical assistance to county staff. The county departments of job and family services receive and investigate reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of vulnerable adults and evaluate the need for protective services. During SFY 2012, the counties received a total of 14,344 reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of adults age 60 and over.

Child Support

The ODJFS Office of Child Support collects and distributes nearly $2 billion annually to more than 1 million Ohio children. In federal fiscal year (FFY) 2011, Ohio had the third largest "IV-D"-designated child support caseload in the country. IV-D refers to the section of federal law that created the child support program. IV-D cases qualify for a variety of child support services, such as locating noncustodial parents, establishing legal paternity, establishing child support or medical support orders, and enforcing such orders. Ohio's child support program is administered locally by 88 county child support enforcement agencies (CSEAs). Sixty-seven CSEAs are located within county departments of job and family services. The rest are either stand-alone agencies or are located within the office of the county prosecutor.

Employment Services

ODJFS oversees a variety of employment-related services for Ohioans. As the state's

rate declined throughout the year, the agency expanded its reemployment activities for

unemployment compensation Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

recipients; enhanced OhioMeansJobs, the resume and job bank created in partnership with Monster.com; and refocused efforts to increase the number of On-the-Job Training opportunities available for Ohioans.

Labor Market Information

Through its Bureau of Labor Market Information (LMI), ODJFS collects and analyzes industry, occupational and employment information to provide statistics on economic and workforce indicators for Ohio. This includes employment levels, unemployment rates, wages and earnings, employment projections, career information, and initial and continued unemployment claim trends. This information is used by ODJFS and Ohio’s local employment program operators, as well as by the Ohio Departments of Education and Development, the Ohio Board of Regents, state and national media, private citizens and industry groups. The LMI website drew nearly 1.5 million page views in SFY 2012.

Workforce Services

As administrator of several federal workforce programs, ODJFS oversees a network of 30 full-service and 60 satellite "One-Stop Centers" that provide free job training and other services to Ohioans looking for work and employers seeking workers. The centers match job seekers with employers and help laid-off workers learn new skills and find jobs.

Unemployment Compensation

ODJFS administers Ohio's unemployment compensation (UC) program, which provides short-term income to unemployed workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It reduces the hardship felt by families during periods of temporary

and bolsters local economies by maintaining the purchasing power of the unemployed workers.

Former directors

Tom Hayes (civil servant) Tom Hayes, an Ohio civil servant, has held positions within the Ohio state government such as director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, director of the Ohio Lottery Commission, and as project manager for Cuyahoga County's boa ...

* Helen Jones-Kelley

References

External links

Ohio Department of Job & Family Services
{{authority control Economy of Ohio Job and Family Services