Public Assistance

The Mission of the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services Income Maintenance Department is to provide public assistance benefits to eligible Jefferson County residents to improve their quality of life. We strive to offer basic needs such as food, Medicaid, cash and PRC services with kindness and compassion.

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) provides increased food security and reduces hunger to eligible participants. Benefits are issued monthly onto an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card called the Ohio Direction Card that tracks transaction history to help participants manage their benefits.

JCDJFS partners with The Ohio State SNAP-Ed program which provides necessary tools to help SNAP recipients with nutritional education, meal planning and budgeting.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in Ohio is called Ohio Works First (OWF) and is a 60-month time limited program. The OWF program provides cash assistance to needy families and requires participants to engage in work and or educational activities based on a Self-Sufficiency Contract with JCDJFS.

Jefferson County work activity staff are responsible to assess applicants and recipients to determine if they are required to participate in a work activity. Those recipients who are required to participate are assigned to activities based on their skills and barriers with the goal of moving them into self-sufficiency.

Ohio Medicaid is a health care coverage program for eligible individuals and families. Coverage for Ohio residents with low income helps pay for doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, vision, dental and mental health services and more.

JCDJFS has specialized, long term care (LTC) workers that assist with the eligibility process associated with placement in a nursing facility.

The Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC) program provides services to low-income families with children to overcome immediate barriers to achieving self-sufficiency. Some PRC services include payments to avoid utility disconnect, purchase of appliances, delinquent rent, car repairs to maintain employment and items to maintain the safety of those effected by domestic violence and care for children involved with Jefferson County Children Services Division. PRC payments to local vendors and putting money back into our local economy totaled $225,861.05 for the year 2023.

The school clothing voucher program is part of the PRC program which provides clothing vouchers to qualifying school age children. This program is an important service to families to increase their ability to purchase clothing, shoes, and coats for school age children. School clothing voucher payments of $703,115.05 were issued to local vendors for 2023, again putting dollars back into our local economy.
The JCDJFS Benefit Recovery staff have an important role in maintaining program integrity by investigating public assistance fraud, collecting overpaid benefits, and imposing penalties for intentional program violations.