TRUMBULL COUNTY New office for social services in the works

Workers could move again in a year.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A new office intended to streamline the application process for unemployment benefits, food stamps and other government assistance is expected to open in Trumbull County by August.
Wednesday, county commissioners approved seeking bids on a one-year lease for office space to create the center, which is required to be up and running this summer to satisfy federal requirements, said Tom Mahoney, director of Trumbull County Jobs and Human Services.
Bid specifications call for 15,000 square feet of mostly open office space, where about 35 intake workers from Jobs and Family Services, the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, representatives of Warren schools, Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority, Community Solutions, temporary agencies and other government and nonprofits will rent space.
Easier to apply
This one-stop center is intended to make it easier for people to enroll for services and government aid, officials said. The concept has been in the planning stage for years, and in 2001 commissioners paid for a $15,000 architectural study of possible locations.
The lease on the property is expected to be covered by combined rent payments from the agencies, Mahoney said. No county money is expected to be necessary, he said.
The one-year lease is meant to bridge the gap between when the lease on Jobs and Family Services' Market Street building expires July 31 and the expiration of the lease on the agency's larger, South Park Avenue, building in September 2005.
"This is for just one year; we are going to do something different next year," said Commissioner James Tsagaris.
Then, the plan is for the county to establish another one-stop center -- either in the same building or a different one -- large enough to accommodate all Job and Family Services' 190 workers and people from other agencies.
Tsagaris said commissioners were still deciding if they will buy a building next year or if they will continue renting.
Leases with Kleese Development Associates for the current JFS buildings total about $700,000 a year, Mahoney said.
Previous study
Three years ago, a Warren architectural firm conducted a study of three locations being considered for a one-stop center, concluding that the Ridgeview Plaza on U.S. Route 422 was best.
However, commissioners rejected that choice at the time because it would take about 200 jobs out of downtown Warren. No action was ever taken.
Commissioner Dan Polivka said he would prefer the county buy rather than rent but he still must weigh the options.
Groups that have agreed to immediately put employees into a one-stop center include county commissioners, Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Senior Employment Center, Coleman Professional Services, Trumbull County Career and Technical Center Adult Education, Warren City Schools, Area 18 Workforce Investment Board, Kent State University Trumbull Campus, Warren-Trumbull Urban League, Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority, Community Solutions, Trumbull County Educational Service Center and Burdman Group Inc./Pine Industries.