More money OK’d to help the needy

The total spending on social service programs is
$2.8 million.

LISBON — Columbiana County commissioners approved more spending for the needy Wednesday, including $689,000 to transport them for medical treatment.

The spending approved Wednesday totaled $1.3 million.

The total approved for various programs in recent weeks by the commissioners is $2.8 million.

Eileen Dray-Bardon, director of the county Department of Job and Family Services, told the board that the service is for the elderly or adults who do not have transportation to hospitals or doctor’s offices.

“It’s for anything medical,” Dray-Bardon said, adding the payment did not include medical emergencies.

The Community Action Agency of Lisbon; Transit Services Inc., of Youngstown; CHANGE of Weirton, W.Va.; and Total Transportation of Toronto, Ohio, will handle calls.

The four agencies will all be paid at the same rate, which starts at $2.15 a mile for a trip of under 60 miles.

The funding will also pay for trips to doctors in other counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia.

The payment rates include a 5-cent fuel surcharge if the price of gas passes $3.50 a gallon, and a 10-cent surcharge if fuel passes $4 a gallon.

Other funding

The commissioners also approved:

UA $321,915 contract with the Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board to administer the Family and Children First program.

UA $50,000 grant to Community Legal Aid of Akron, which will provide legal services for the needy. Dray-Bardon said the agency is opening an office in Lisbon.

UA $10,000 contract to provide guardian services in county probate court.

UA $9,000 grant to the Community Action Agency to provide payment services for people who have difficulty handling their money.

UA $33,452 contact with Help Hotline, which is JFS’s 24-hour hotline for complaints. The agency will also pay the county $91,932 in rent for one year.

Those programs run for one year starting Saturday.

The commissioners approved a one-year pact starting April 1, 2007, for $114,631 with the county’s probate court to fund child support proceedings.