NORTHEAST OHIO Shelters vie for funding

A Stark County agency wants to share the money with Mahoning County.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners are caught in the middle of a prize fight.
In one corner, claiming a record of dedicated service to victims of domestic violence in the county, is the Burdman Group, which operates Sojourner House.
In the other corner, standing on its record for helping crisis victims from rural parts of Mahoning County, is the Alliance Area Domestic Violence Shelter, located in Stark County.
At stake: The prize is about $55,000 that the Stark County group wants a piece of, but the Burdman Group does not want to share.
Under Ohio law, $17 from each marriage license fee is set aside for funding domestic violence shelters. Historically, all of Mahoning County's money has gone to the Burdman Group, said county Administrator Gary Kubic.
But this year, the Alliance shelter has asked to be included in the mix, saying it provides services for residents from the Sebring and Beloit areas who are too far removed from Youngstown to come here.
"We're trying to be King Solomon," Kubic said. "We're trying to figure out how to split the baby the best way." The amount ranges from $55,000 to $58,000 a year, he said.
Nancy Bailey, Burdman Group interim executive director, said that is about 10 percent of the group's annual budget.
"God only knows what services we would have to cut if we lose any of that," she said.
What's fair: Barbara Lang-Abraham, executive director of the Alliance facility, said she understands that but thinks it's only fair that her agency be paid for helping Mahoning County residents.
She said the agency sends a counselor to Mahoning County Area Court in Sebring once a week to meet with victims in domestic violence cases. Victims from the western part of the county also call the shelter for advice and sometimes stay at the shelter, she said.
But Bailey and Ronald A. Marian, executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health Board, said that's all part of being a social service agency.
Marian said Burdman Group, which is an arm of the mental health board, often provides services for women from neighboring Columbiana and Trumbull counties but has never asked to share in their funding.
"I don't blame [Lang-Abraham] for trying to grab money in this day and age, but that money is from Mahoning County, for Mahoning County," Marian said.
Hopes for solution: Kubic said commissioners don't want to pit one agency against another in the funding fight, and hope to resolve the issue within two weeks.
"We want to help Mahoning County residents receive care and treatment, wherever that may be," he said. "We would like to encourage collaborative efforts."
Marian said commissioners need to act soon because the funding is already behind schedule.
"We usually find out about this in December," he said. "Here it is March, and we still don't know how much we're getting."