MOUNT VERNON — Although unemployment is lower in Knox County than in other Ohio counties impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the county’s public assistance needs have grown in recent months following the shutdowns in March that affected government and businesses.
Medicaid cases have grown in Knox County from 12,200 individuals at the beginning of the year to 12,734, according to Matthew Kurtz, director of Knox County Jobs and Family Services. Kurtz offered his report to Knox County Commissioners Thursday.
Food assistance needs have now started to come down following a peak in April, he said, the first month of full COVID-19 related shutdowns. There were 5,300 food requests met in January and February, for a total amount given of $630,000. In April the number increased sharply to 6,500 food requests, with a large payout of $1.5 million. Food assistance included funds for children who missed school meals, with the average per child at $300.
In June, food assistance requests declined to 6,000 and a total amount of $1 million. However, cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has increased about 20 percent, from 300 people earlier in the year, which was a low mark with $64,000 disbursed, to 380 now for a total given of $74,000, according to Kurtz.
Family can receive up to a few hundred dollars per month of cash assistance and a maximum lifetime length of 36 months, Kurtz said. In return, they engage in work programs to help pay off cash received.
On the jobs front, Knox County is doing well compared to Ohio’s overall May unemployment rate of 13.4 percent, with Knox showing a rate of 9.3 percent. That means Knox has one of the seven lowest unemployment figures in the state, faring much better than some neighboring counties including Richland at 15.6 percent. Holmes, another neighbor, had the lowest May figure at 5.1 percent. Kurtz said Knox’s unemployment rate has continued to decline.
Kurtz offered that county JFS is working on hiring employees for two new businesses — Harbor Freight, set to open around September next to Fiesta Mexicana on Coshocton Avenue — and Big Lots, likely to be opened in October in the old Pat Catan’s building near Rural King. Much of JFS assistance has been helping prospective job candidates apply through “virtual” online means. Opportunity Knox, a component of JFS which provides job-seeking skills like interviewing sessions, is still meeting clients through appointments only.
The federal government is giving those who have been unemployed during the pandemic $600 per week above what Ohio pays to the unemployed, which is a maximum of $424 per week. Kurtz was asked if that has provided a disincentive for those who have worked to return to work in Knox County, if they can earn more by receiving the federal funds.
“Manufacturers are still challenged to find enough folks to work,” he said, but added that was also true before the shutdowns. The $600 payments are set to expire at the end of the month.
