NEWS RELEASE
DEFIANCE
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013
The
Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on
Monday, July 29, 2013 in the Conference Room in the Commissioners’ Office at
500 Court Street, Suite A, Defiance, Ohio 43512. Chairman Otto L. Nicely called the meeting to
order. Also present were Commissioners James E.
Harris, Jr. and Thomas L. Kime, Sherry Carnahan, Fiscal Manager/Administrator, and
Stephanie Metz, Clerk.
The
Commissioners met in General Session and approved and signed various
resolutions, contracts and documents. The Commissioners also reviewed the
calendar of events and discussed upcoming meetings.
Julie
Voll, Defiance County Family & Children First/Help Me Grow Coordinator, met
with the Commissioners to provide a quarterly update. Julie informed the Board
that the Help Me Grow central coordination began on July 1, 2013. Any calls for
Help Me Grow services for the four county area are now handled at the Fulton
County Help Me Grow. Defiance County residents are able to contact Help Me Grow
by using the toll free number 888-648-8732. Help Me Grow is a program for Ohio's expectant
parents, newborns, infants, and toddlers that provides health and developmental
services so children start school healthy and ready to learn. Help Me Grow
provides the building blocks for success by providing a little extra support to
families in the crucial time of early development. Help Me Grow recognizes the
importance of families as the best teachers and support system for young
children. Building upon the family's strengths, Help Me
Grow works with families to identify resources that will best meet the needs of
the family and child. Services Help Me Grow offers can include the following:
•Referrals to community
resources to meet the needs of the family.
•Home Visitation to provide
parenting and child development information.
•Evaluations, assessments or
screenings that measure a child's strengths and weaknesses in all areas of development,
with referral to specialized services and therapies (such as early
intervention, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physical
therapy) as needed.
•Family support activities,
such as ways to play with your child to promote learning and development.
•Up-to-date information on
your child's health, growth and development, and parenting to lay the
foundation for later success in school.
•Connecting children at age
three with appropriate transition services.
The
Commissioners attended the Four County Solid Waste District Board of Directors’
meeting.
The
County Commissioners’ Association of Ohio (CCAO) informed the Commissioners
across the State that: “Policy Matters, a
progressive non-profit think tank, released a report Wednesday criticizing the
recently passed state budget…First, the budget provides
$95 million less in local aid over the next two years when compared to the 2012-2013 budget, and $1 billion less when compared to
the 2010-2011 budget; second, the report notes the loss of the estate tax, a
hit of $625 million to townships and
municipalities; and third, the group points to the elimination of the property tax rollback on new levies costs locals $720 million over the
next two fiscal years." "Local governments will see $1.5 billion less in tax revenues and
state aid compared with FY 2010-11,"
report author Wendy Patton said in a release. "Fiscal crisis will continue in many communities."
Release Approved: ____________________________________________________
Otto L. Nicely,
Defiance County Commissioner