Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Jacqueline Romer-Sensky today announced that the department would be reorganized to more efficiently deliver services at the local level.

"Declining federal funding, the realities of a tight budget and the demands of taxpayers to operate with maximum efficiency dictate that we cannot continue to do business the way we used to," Romer-Sensky said.

Under the reorganization, applications for Unemployment Compensation will be processed exclusively by telephone, a method which is 56 percent less expensive than in-person applications.

Ohio will join California, Texas, Wisconsin, New York and about a dozen other states in moving to all-telephone registration with no increase in the average length of duration on unemployment. In making this change, the 56 local unemployment offices across the state will gradually close, while the number of Telephone Registration Centers will be expanded from seven to 21 over the next 15 months. Most of the staff from the local offices will move into the Telephone Registration Centers.

"Last year, 36 percent of our customers chose, on their own, to take advantage of the convenience of filing applications over our toll-free telephone number," Romer-Sensky said. "We will continue to maintain a strong focus on helping out-of-work Ohioans find work in the shortest time possible through a team of specially trained state staff."

The department will help local Workforce Policy Boards get their one-stop centers fully functioning and will continue to improve its computer-based job-matching system to meet the needs of both job-seekers and employers. Dedicated veterans representatives will continue to work individually with veterans. Job-seekers who do not have phones can visit a local one-stop office or county office of Job and Family Services.

To reach personnel levels necessary to operate within budget, the department will maintain a general hiring freeze, implement targeted layoffs in the main office in Columbus, and offer a voluntary one-year early retirement incentive.

Romer-Sensky also announced today that the department will reorganize its district structure to include six regional offices located in Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Waverly, and that some offices contained within the main central office would be consolidated. The new Waverly regional office will provide more comprehensive service to customers in Appalachia.

It is estimated that these moves will result in a cost avoidance of $10 million in state General Revenue Funds in Fiscal Year 2003.

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For more information, contact ODJFS Communications, (614) 466-6650.

Editor's note - A map detailing the reorganization plan is available on the department's World Wide Web site at: jfs.ohio.gov