‘Job-A-Bego’ helps central Ohio job-hunters

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A group of central Ohio counties is taking job resources right to the people — via
a 32-foot motor home.
Funded
by seven counties, the 32-foot recreational vehicle had been
transformed into a mobile job-resource center complete with laptops,
Internet access and an interview area. Since March, the vehicle — dubbed
the "Job-A-Bego" — has helped about 350 people in Delaware, Marion,
Knox and Morrow counties find work.
It’s only one piece of the
multi-county effort to update technology and combine services to allow
Job and Family Services agencies to handle bigger caseloads. It’s also a
tangible sign of counties that have saved money by pooling resources
after the state budget cut funding to local governments by $630 million.
"They
hooked me up with a new email address, because you have to apply
online," Crystal Metz told The Columbus Dispatch. "I gave them all my
information, and they said, ‘You’re hired.’ … It was the fastest,
quickest job I ever got."
Though each of the seven counties is
paying $18,385 to $28,755 annually for the new system, they have been
able to save more by combining services such as staff trainers, said
Roxane Somerlot, director of Marion County Job and Family Services.
"We
were committed to finding a way to bridge the gap between services that
were needed in our community and limited resources," she said.
The
idea for a mobile jobs center to go to job fairs and rural areas has
been around for several years, said Joel Potts, executive director of a
professional association for Ohio’s county family-services directors. It
became possible last summer when legislation was passed making it
easier for counties to pool resources — such as the leftover funds that
Delaware, Marion, Knox and Morrow counties had from updating their
permanent job-resource centers. They were then put toward the RV.
Angela
Thomas, deputy director for Delaware County Department of Job and
Family Services, said she sees potential for more services to be
combined.
"It’s all trending that way," Thomas said. "All our entities try to meet the needs of
their customers the best they can."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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