COLUMBUS (September 8, 2005) - Governor Bob Taft today announced that disaster assistance is now available through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) for Hurricane Katrina evacuees who are now in or will be arriving to Ohio. Taft also announced that a special website through ODJFS is now available to connect Ohio employers with evacuees seeking temporary employment while in Ohio.

"Ohio stands ready to help those who were forced to leave their homes by this devastating storm, from helping them to obtain money to meet their immediate living needs, to connecting them with companies looking to hire workers," said Taft.

Under the state's newly created Hurricane Evacuee Assistance Program, families may qualify for $1,500 in disaster assistance funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In order to be eligible for the TANF assistance money, families must include a minor child, or pregnant woman, and be from a hurricane-affected area. Single individuals may be eligible for $500 in state-funded assistance through ODJFS.

Evacuees can apply for this assistance at county departments of job and family services. A listing of county job and family service department addresses and telephone numbers may be found online (http://jfs.ohio.gov/county/cntydir.xml). County department of job and family services staff also will be on hand at reception centers to accept applications from evacuees should they arrive in Ohio via the resettlement program coordinated by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.

The new website (http://www.scoti.ohio.gov/katrina) was specifically designed to connect Hurricane Katrina evacuees and employers with short-term employment opportunities. Job seekers without computer access can obtain these postings by calling the SCOTI Help Desk at 1-888-385-2588. The website allows evacuees to look for job opportunities across the state without requiring the formal registration normally needed to utilize the state's job-matching system, the Sharing Career Opportunities and Training Information (SCOTI) program.

"Ohioans are showing extraordinary compassion for Hurricane Katrina evacuees arriving in many communities across the state, and I encourage Ohio employers wishing to help evacuees to register temporary job opportunities with our centralized job matching website," Taft said.

The website was developed as part of Ohio's SCOTI job matching system, administered by ODJFS, in response to an outpouring of interest from employers wishing to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

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