Ohio MeansJobs Cincinnati-Hamilton County is again offering free tax help by hosting United Way tax preparers.
The preparers will be at OMJ, 1916 Central Parkway near downtown Cincinnati, every Saturday through April 15.
One change from last year: Drop
-in customers cannot be accommodated.
All tax assistance will be provided only with a prior appointment.
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The numbers and dollars of local Medicaid
The expanded Medicaid program is a frequent topic of discussion as our nation and state look toward the future on health care.
Whatever is decided, it will be our responsibility to implement it.
As a point of reference, we currently have more than 231,000 county residents in the Medicaid program and we spent $1,760,215,299 last year on delivering health care to Medicaid recipients.
These Medicaid dollars are spent with local doctors, hospitals and other medical facilities, and the money plays a big role in the local economy.
The dollars are not all related to Medicaid expansion. In 2013, we had 175,000 Medicaid recipients, prior to expansion. Then the state decided to expand Medicaid to cover people with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level - at the time, $15,856 for a single person and $32,499 for a family of four.
Immediately, people who did not have affordable insurance began signing up under the expanded guidelines. At one point, we were processing about 200 additional new applications a day.
Medicaid is by far our biggest program. We have more local residents involved in our Child Support program, and our Children's Services program garners the most public attention, but the Medicaid program makes up about 80 percent of our budget.
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Patton honored for time-saving innovation
Michael Patton, our chief child support officer, is being praised by the Ohio Child Support Director's Association Board for his work on software that helped automate processes and save employees time.
As chairman of the group's metro committee, Patton prioritized the implementation of shared technology. He surveyed the metro counties, identifying tools different counties had developed that others could use.
"Michael was a true visionary in identifying, mobilizing and supporting technology that could be used by counties of all sizes," said Deborah Watkins, the association's executive director. "His efforts have directly led to greater efficiencies in counties."
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Shoe donation drive ends with 1,500 pair
We can't say enough THANK YOUs to Sibcy Cline and Julie Phillippi-Whitney, the two forces that came together to get us so many new shoes for our kids in foster care.
Their Sweet Soles for Love campaign, which ended on Valentine's Day, was the third annual drive for us. First, they collected suitcases, and last year the drive was for hats, gloves and scarves.
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