Portage County JFS program helps workers find transportation
Transportation is a necessity that many people take for granted. Getting to and from work and school can be a problem for a lot of families, including Jamie Guido.
Guido is the newest participant of the Supportive Employment Program, the result of a partnership between Job and Family Services (JFS) and Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA).
Guido has recently been released from prison and found that limited resources can lead to a tough situation.
“[The program] means a lot to me,” Guido said. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now if I hadn’t been given this opportunity.. it means a lot more than I thought.”
Prior to this program, Guido was unemployed and living in a halfway house in Cleveland. JFS was able to support him in buying a car and completely turned his life around.
“I was really doing nothing,” Guido said. “And this [program] got me going in the direction that was positive.”
The most important incentive, according to Guido, is the possibility of acquiring a car via match funding through JFS.
Job and Family Services is incentivized through Ohio Works First, an Ohio cash assistance program, due to its ability to get individuals off of cash assistance and into the workforce.
JFS Director Kellijo Jeffries said they decided to invest those dollars into transportation, a clear barrier to employment for a lot of people.
“If they save money – up to $1,200 – in a six-month period, we’ll provide match funding so they can purchase a car,” Jeffries said. “So our subsidized transportation that we pay for is six months. After six months they could either purchase a car or find another way of transportation.”
Job and Family Services also has agreements with Paris Healthcare Linens, Hattie Larlham and Viking Manufacturing, so after the participants in the program are screened and interviewed, the companies can decide whether to hire them.
“We’ve had close to 15 people come through that program in the last two years,” Jeffries said. “Right now we have three at Paris and we’re pending applications with the two other facilities. It’s not always consistent in number because people transition, but for the most part it’s very successful.”
Katherine Manning, Director of Planning for PARTA, says they have had a long-standing relationship with Job and Family Services and have multiple contracts with them.
PARTA 2018 Signed Contract with Portage County JFS and Portage County Board of Commissioners by Christiana Ford on Scribd
“One is NET Transportation, as well as several other smaller parts of that,” Manning said. “Individuals who have Medicaid are eligible for free transportation through NET… and we do all the in-county transportation for that.”
Non-Emergency Transportation, or NET Transportation, has been ongoing for several years. However, PARTA just started this type of transportation earlier this year. A big part of PARTA’s role in these contracts is bringing awareness to the citizens of Portage County.
“One of the things we’ve been doing is educating individuals in Portage County about this program because a lot of people didn’t even know it was out there,” Manning said. “You can get free transportation, you can get door-to-door services, or you can ride our fixed route buses.”
Manning also stated that the goal of PARTA and these contracts are to provide services to those in need.
“…we are able to reach out to those individuals through this JFS contract and also provide the services to individuals with disabilities, seniors, people who need to get to the doctor’s offices and JFS has all of those same clients,” Manning said. “So, it’s a good partnership for us.”
Listen to Manning discuss the contract and trips below:
Jeffries says that the success of the program is very important to a lot of people.
“It means everything,” Jeffries said. “Portage county is not a metro county, and subsidized transportation is not available in all areas of Portage County. There are many individuals in Portage County that don’t have transportation that would love to get into the workforce, but the barriers they have are sometimes getting their kids to daycare and sometimes getting themselves to work.”
This type of transportation is available to all people who have medicaid or are working with an employment program through Ohio Means Jobs. More information on this can be found on PARTA’s website, FaceBook page, or literature at one of their many transit centers.
PARTA’s Akron Express route is shown below:
A more in-depth view of all Portage County PARTA routes can be found on their website here.
Just finished up my second reporting project. I talk about how JFS and PARTA are working together to provide transportation to workers that don’t have reliable vehicles. Check it out tomorrow @ https://t.co/uKwXNJzFVm #JMCRPP
— Scott Lendak (@scott_lendak) October 24, 2018
Portage County JFS is working alongside PARTA in order to help dislocated workers find transportation. This program affects many lives across the county. Stay tuned for my story that will be live tomorrow. #JMCRPP2018
— Will Kovach (@trillkovach) October 24, 2018
Currently working on a story about a supportive employment transportation program in Portage County. Have you heard about this?
— Christiana Ford (@christianaford_) October 23, 2018
