IRONTON — Six employees with the Lawrence County Department of Job and Family Services will be laid off April 6.
 

That will leave only four social service investigators to investigate more than 2,100 complaints each year of child abuse and neglect and to monitor 88 children in foster care, officials said Wednesday.
 

The move was prompted by a change in how state Department of Job and Family Services funds can be disbursed, Commissioner Jason Stephens said. Most of Ohio’s 88 counties have a children’s services levy to fund those services. The department put a levy before Lawrence County voters last year to fund those services, but it was turned down by a margin of 2 to 1.
 

“I’m distraught about this,” said Gene Dyers, director of the Department of Job and Family Services. “The safety net for these kids is in jeopardy. It’s scary. We can’t do everything we used to do. It’s going to be almost impossible to get done what needs to be done.”
 

With no local funding for the services and current budget problems, the county had no choice but to make the layoffs, Stephens said. “We have to live within the budget,” he said. The voters said as much to county officials last year, he said.
 

“I’m concerned about the workers,” Stephens said. “These people do a great job. There’s plenty to do at the department. I’m also concerned about the safety and welfare of abused and neglected children. This could be the first of other layoffs. The state has cut the department’s budget 46 percent since 2005.”
 

The Lawrence County Board of Commissioners hope the jobs could be brought back at some point in the future if the duties are combined with the Lawrence County Group and Shelter Home, he said.
 

“We’ll see what the future holds,” he said.
 

“I don’t anticipate running another levy” for children’s services, Stephens said.
 
 

National Video