Trying to put the Department of Job and Family Services out of business - that's how Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune describes the goal of the Ohio Healthier Buckeye Council.
On Monday, county commissioners approved the formation of a local Healthier Buckeye Council which will approve and oversee grassroots, out-of-the box approaches to combating poverty.
Hamilton County will be able to make three applications for grants from the state. That money can be used on programs that help remove health problems as a reason for not working.
Portune says Ohio legislators approved HB196 with bi-partisan support in 2015. The legislature appropriated $5 million for grants statewide in fiscal year 2016, and $6.5 million for fiscal year 2017.
He says the new measures "if successful, will actually get people off of welfare, off of public support and into becoming self-sufficient. And that's the whole idea in the first place."
Portune used the Department of Job and Family Services as a hypothetical example.
"It's really to put them out of business so that we don't have to provide as much assistance or administer as many programs for help because we've been successful in actually transitioning people," Portune says.
The local Healthier Buckeye Council will include:
- Karen Bankston, University of Cincinnati
- Troy Jackson, AMOS Project Director
- Dale Mallory
- Gwen Robinson, Community Action Agency
- John Tafaro, Chatfield College
- Charles Tassel
The local councils will have to report back to a state office every year.
The first round of grant applications are due to the state by May 3.
