Seneca County's economic safety net is being stretched more than ever - and may be stretched even more - but people who need help still can get it at Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services.

It's offices are located on a township road just south of town, clustered with the county engineer's office and the Veteran's Services office, and near the School of Opportunity. Unless you need the services of one of these entities, you are not likely to just drive by the location. These days, however, more people than before are finding their way.

"A lot of the increase we have seen are people we've never ever seen before," Beverly Henry said. Henry is the financial assistance administrator at the DJFS.

"They never had any kind of history with us," Henry said. "They've never been in a position to need our services. Now they are."

DJFS Director Kathy Oliver and Assistant Director Robert Anderson said they have reduced staffing and eliminated overtime to cope with their own administrative budget restraints, but the needs continue to grow. More people in the county need more assistance.

"Overall I would say, we're seeing all these families with less workers," Oliver said. "Certainly that's a management challenge. More families than ever and less money to do it."

Anderson commended the work of the staff for continuing to provide services and information at a high rate of accuracy.

So what do the current numbers show?

More county residents than ever are receiving food stamp assistance, according to Henry. Thirty percent more individuals are receiving food stamps when compared to one year earlier, Henry said. During May 2008, 5,115 individuals were receiving food stamp assistance. During May this year, 6,996 received food stamp assistance. That number has grown by more than 1,000 since January of this year.

During December 2008, the county DJFS provided less than $800,000 in food stamp assistance. During May the total was reaching toward $1 million. If the trend continues as expected, the department is to provide more than $1 million in food stamp assistance during the month of June.

Henry said more local stores are beginning to ask about accepting food stamp payments. She said she did not recall a single inquiry during the past decade until 2009. This year she has received requests from three businesses wanting to add food stamp payments as an option for customers.

"They are getting a lot more people in their stores asking, 'do you accept (food stamps)?' I can't (process the paperwork)," Henry said. "We refer them to Columbus. It's not even a tough process to become a vendor. But I thought that was interesting because they are being asked more or they wouldn't have been inquiring."

More individuals in the county are receiving Medicaid benefits as well, Henry said. During May 2008, a total of 8,254 individuals in the county received Medicaid benefits. By May of this year the number had grown to 9,338. Most of the Medicaid benefits are provided to people who are aged, blind or disabled. A much smaller amount goes to pay for services provided by nursing homes, Henry said.

This week the Seneca County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution adopting the newest version of the county Prevention, Retention and Contingency program. The program is established and administered by the county DJFS and provides benefits and services to households with at least one child. Most of the aid is short-term.

The PRC program offers assistance in five different categories, including rental assistance, transportation services, utility assistance, disaster services and gas cards. In every category of services, either the eligibility has been tightened or the benefits reduced in the newest version. The school clothes program has been removed from the program along with a short list of other PRC services.

"We do have less dollars, so we do have less in the plan," Oliver said. "However, we are still committed to serving families in the best way possible."

More funding cuts may still be on the way. The state legislature is still working to finalized Ohio's biennial budget. The final budget numbers might not be favorable for the DJFS along with other entities depending on state funding.

"I was reading the 'Capitol Monitor.' I understand there was a meeting the governor called with department heads," Oliver said. "He said they should plan for a 10, 20 or 30 percent cut. Those are numbers you don't really want to hear."