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Issue 9 is not a new tax
and would be in effect for 10 years. I will generate $13.3
million annually and will provide LCCS with a stable
sustainable source of income as it meets an increasing need
for child protection in the community.
In 2017, LCCS spent a
total of $45.5 million to protect children, up from $42.4
million in 2014 reflecting the increasing need for services
as more children were placed at risk. Thanks to the support
of the residents of Lucas County, LCCS has a second
operating budget, assed in 2016, of a five-year, 1.8 mill
measure that runs through 2021 and represents $12.8 million
in essential operating revenue.
These local levies are so
important because of the dearth of support from the state
for child protection. Ohio currently ranks 50th
in the nation in state funding for child protection – if
current state funding levels were doubled, Ohio would still
rank last. That means that counties and their residents must
pick up the slack.
This issue – Issue 9 –
means that the homeowner of a $100,000 house will pay $56.66
annually – about $4.72 per month – to help keep our children
safe.
In order to ensure that
taxpayer dollars are being used wisely, LCCS is committed to
holding the line on spending while continuing to operate an
agency that is one of the most innovative, efficient and
effective child protection agencies in Ohio. LCCS spends the
largest proportion of its budget - $12.8 million – to keep
150 caseworkers on staff. Foster care costs $67.5 million
and contracts for services to clients cost $1.8 million.
The agency helps one in
eight children in Lucas County, so continued funding is
vital as the job of child protection continued to get more
complex and challenging. Overall referrals for suspected
child abuse have increased nearly 14 percent since 2014. The
number of children in LCCS care and custody remains steady
at about 1,000 every day
In 2017, Lucas County
experienced 1,600 confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect
– twice the number of children the case workers saw in 2011,
largely a result of the ongoing heroin and opiate epidemic.
In fact substance abuse is the most frequently cited reason.
Issue 9 will allow LCCS to
continue its efforts to keep children with family whenever
possible by providing caseworker and financial support and
will help LCCS maintain its position as n of the
top-performing public children services agencies in Ohio. It
will allow LCCS to continue its move to mobile technology,
allowing caseworkers to be more efficient and effective. It
will allow the agency to continue its collaboration with law
enforcement, organized labor and other area partners.
Issue 9 protects children. Vote FOR Issue 9
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