YOUNGSTOWN CSEA office set to move to East Side

Officials say the move will allow for better management and service.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Clients of Mahoning County's Department of Job and Family Services soon will have to make just one stop.
On Monday, the agency's child support enforcement division will begin moving from its downtown location in the Erie Terminal building on Commerce Street to the McGuffey Plaza on North Garland Avenue, on the city's East Side. That's where the human services division is located.
Gary Kubic, county administrator, said the Erie Terminal building space will be vacated by the end of the year.
In 2000, the county merged its human services and child support enforcement agency to form the job and family services. County commissioners have been planning since then to bring the entities together under one roof.
Dee Crawford, JFS executive director, said that she believes the McGuffey Plaza location is only temporary and that a new, more centrally located site still is needed. Commissioners have said they'd like to see the agency downtown.
Convenience, savings
But while that's being accomplished, Crawford said, having all employees in one location will be more convenient for customers and will be a cost savings to the county.
"The bottom line is that we believe this one-stop approach will improve our service to the public," Crawford said.
The county's long-term leases on office space for the agencies have expired, so commissioners have been paying on a month-to-month basis. The cost of leasing the Erie Terminal space is $33,595 per month, which no longer will have to be paid.
The county pays more than $31,000 a month for the North Garland Avenue space.
Crawford also said having both departments in one building will make it easier for employees to interact and share information.
Kubic said earlier this year that bringing the agencies together in one building also would allow the county to cut costs by eliminating some $250,000 worth of personnel, mostly in duplicative management positions.
Crawford has said personnel and occupancy costs are her two largest budget items. JFS has a combined 400 employees -- about 125 of them at CSEA.
bjackson@vindy.com