Commissioners discuss Children Services funding with JFS director; issue FFA Week proclamation

Highland County commissioners Brad Roades and Terry Britton discussed Children Services funding with Job & Family Services Director Jeremy Ratcliff during their Wednesday, Feb. 19 meeting, which also included a proclamation, a bid opening and entering an agreement for a security system partnership.

Commissioner David Daniels was absent.

The weekly bill file approved by commissioners was $659,252.95, with a total general fund of $541,935.84. Because it was significantly higher than usual — by comparison, the bill file approved a week earlier was $383,225.03, with a $85,436.14 general fund — Ratcliff addressed commissioners.

“I just wanted to give you a heads up that a large part of that bill file would be a request from Children Services, JFS, to help cover foster care costs,” Ratcliff said. “Somewhere around $442,000 is this initial request. That's about $375,000 to help pay foster care, and $67,000-ish to help cover the additional cost of recruiting additional foster parents, which would be local homes. We’re hoping to be able to bring down some costs, keep our kids closer to family, keep them closer, maybe even in the same school district.”

As previously reported, a proposed renewal levy for Children Services failed, for a third consecutive time, in the Nov. 5 general election. Commissioners said in a letter to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio in October that “the anticipated cost to the general fund will exceed $1.3 million, nearly 10 percent of the total general fund budget,” with the levy not available to help offset foster care placement costs.

“I think it's pretty well known it’s a direct result of the loss of the levy,” Ratcliff said Wednesday. “We’re seeing the first impact to the general fund in this request.”

Roades asked Ratcliff if he had any updated statistics to share. The JFS director said the Children Services agency ended 2024 with $4.3 million in placement costs, up from $3.8 million in 2023. The number of children in the agency’s care is currently “down,” despite still being in triple digits, he added.

“Surprisingly, the number of kids in care is down a little bit,” Ratcliff said. “I think the last number I saw was about 138 kids in care, and so that's even more alarming that the number of children has come down a little bit — and that's across statewide as well — but we're not seeing that relief in the costs that we pay.”

Britton said that Ratcliff will be testifying at a hearing on the state’s biennial budget to speak about the need for Children Services funding.

The JFS director added that his “message to legislators when I get an opportunity” will be the significant toll foster care placement costs are taking on county budgets.

“I don't know how many counties across the state of Ohio can expect to have almost 10 percent of their general revenue budget paying just foster care costs,” Ratcliff said. “Even for counties that don't have as many children in care as we do, they're feeling the local impact as well. I think that's where CCAO’s sitting at that table as well, to say it's not just a one- or two-county thing. All counties are experiencing this across the state.”

As commissioners wrote in their letter to CCAO in the fall, “Highland County JFS diverts millions of dollars per year away from staffing resources and other social service programs, including service to senior citizens, to pay the costs of foster care, and still the Commissioners have been forced to supplement the costs from the general fund by hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Britton thanked Ratcliff for his willingness to speak to legislators on the matter.

“Our organization that represents Children Services is partnering with CCAO [the County Commissioners Association of Ohio] to provide testimony on the local impact and the need for additional state investment,” Ratcliff said. “As the months go by and the state budget gets ironed out, I think CCAO will still certainly have a position on investment.”

In other discussion:

• During the meeting, Roades read the county’s annual FFA Week proclamation. As no representatives from area schools were able to accept the proclamation, Roades and Britton invited anyone attending the meeting who participated in FFA to pose for a photo.

As noted in the proclamation, National FFA Week was being observed Feb. 15-22.

The FFA alumni accepting the proclamation included county auditor Alex Butler, deputy engineer Christian Dunlap, administrative assistant to the sheriff Shana Reffitt and commission clerk Ashleigh Willey.

• At 9:15 a.m., commissioners conducted a bid opening for the Highland County Engineer’s Office for a bridge replacement on Gibler Road.

According to the project description, the job involves “replacement of the existing steel truss bridge” on Gibler Road. Highland County Engineer Chris Fauber said the project will be funded through the Ohio Department of Transportation and that this was the only bridge that qualified for this particular program.

“It’s 100-percent funding,” Fauber said.

The county received five bids, ranging from $891,634.70 to $1,063,955.53, with the apparent low bidder being JTM Smith Construction.

• After speaking with Jason Gall of the Hillsboro Fraternal Order of Eagles 1161, commissioners voted to partner with the Eagles on a mutually beneficial purchase of security cameras.

“The Eagles is putting a new security system around the outside of the building, so we thought it'd be beneficial to your parking lot and your new records building,” Gall said.  

Roades said the system is also for the county’s “back parking lot, which the Eagles uses after hours.” Gall added that the system includes coverage for the back of the county’s new records storage building on Beech Street and surrounding alley.

“We had the opportunity to talk with Jason and those guys, and we thought a pretty good deal for us, not only to secure our parking lot during the day, but also the new records storage center,” Roades said.

According to Roades, the agreement is for the county and the Eagles to “split the cost for the install,” with the Eagles handling the subsequent “monitoring and the maintenance,” Gall said. The installation cost is a “one-time” fee of $2,700, according to Britton, and Gall said that includes eight exterior cameras.

“It's not only covering you guys sufficiently, it’s covering our properties a lot, so that's a value to us,” Roades said.

• Commissioners approved an annual service agreement for the Tek84 body scanner at the Highland County Justice Center.

“It's our body scanner that we use back in our corrections division,” Chief Deputy Jennifer Schinkal said. “When somebody's brought into the jail, they're patted down by a corrections officer and then ran through the body scanner before they come into our intake area.”

• Commissioners heard from Highland Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Tami Hinkley before agreeing to certify Public Housing Agency plans consistent with the Consolidated Plan.

“Every five years, HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] requires all public housing authorities to submit their plan, what they want to do for the community,” Hinkley said. “In order for us to get that passed, we have to have the local officials sign off on our consolidated plan to make sure it matches your guys’s, in order for them to approve our five-year plan.”

• Commissioners announced that they are accepting bids for mowing and landscaping services at county properties.

“It's basically the same contract we put out last year,” Willey said. “It’s for the courthouse, the little sidewalk area out here at our parking lot on Beech Street, and then the Hi-TEC Center and sheriff's office are also quoted.

“Both the old and new dog pound on there, and then spring landscaping and fall cleanup.”

Commissioners also made the following other approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• An agreement with the City of Hillsboro for indigent counsel was approved, after Hillsboro City Council also signed off on the measure at their February meeting.

“The rate for the attorney on indigent [defense] is $75 an hour,” Roades said. “With the state arrangement with us in the county, there's a 78-percent reimbursement so basically what that means is we pay the other part of that 78 percent.

“Whenever that changes, whether the state pays more, pays less, the attorneys still get paid $75. It just comes out of the county fund.”

• A resolution to order statements of qualifications to pre-qualify architectural/engineering services
for Highland County.

“This is just a thing that we're going to start doing every year that's going to go out to a handful of architect firms,” Roades said. “If we have something going on that's kind of small, we can have prequalified people to do that, so we can just call on somebody.”

• A budget modification within the 2665 TCAP FY 24-25 fund in the amount of $38,566.57. Also requested is an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds in the amount of $77,116.68.

• A resolution to award the Highland Solar and New Market I & II Solar Farm Final Resurfacing bid to Miller Mason Paving Co. in the amount of $1,085,362.33.

• A resolution to reappoint Tonya Sturgill as the Highland County OneOhio Representative effective immediately for the term of one year, Feb. 19, 2025-Feb. 18, 2026.

• A resolution to reappoint Hillsboro Police Chief Eric Daniels as the City of Hillsboro OneOhio Representative effective immediately for the term of two years, Feb. 19, 2025-Feb. 18, 2027.

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