CLEVELAND - Ohio has halted a federally backed program that provided college-tuition aid to state and county government social workers.
Ohio had to match the federal contribution with an equal share and relied for years on money the state already was spending to subsidize higher education.
However, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services decided last summer that the match might not meet federal approval, said Jon Allen, a department spokesman. That decision halted the program known as TOPS, or Training Opportunities for Program Staff.
In an Aug. 6 memo, the family services department told directors of county human-services agencies that after questions were raised internally, federal representatives confirmed that the subsidy was no longer an allowable match.
In the fiscal year that ended last July, more than $4.3 million in federal money was paid to Ohio colleges and universities for job-related courses through TOPS.
The program picked up the tab for 1,254 employees: 38 state employees and the rest employees of county governments in the latest fiscal year.
Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services in Cleveland, said losing TOPS was devastating to the employees enrolled.
The TOPS shutdown affected about 77 of McCafferty's employees, mostly social workers or supervisors working on master's degrees. I think it was a huge benefit to staff
he said.
Allen said state officials worried that taxpayers would have to shoulder the liability if the federal government decided the match was improper and wanted to be repaid.
That was not a risk that the current administration of the department was willing to take he said
But Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services, said it made no sense for Ohio to voluntarily walk away from federal money.
There's no apparent good reason he said. Poor people deserve the best service we can give them
and training staff is one of the ways to provide more efficient service.
Allen insisted that Ohio is not letting the federal money go to waste because the state reverted to a tuition reimbursement program for approved job-related training. Under the new plan, staffers taking approved college courses must pay up front and then be reimbursed if they successfully complete the classes.
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