Our view: Federal child abuse money must be saved

The spike in foster care cases in Licking County and Ohio has long been documented.

A surge of parents addicted to drugs or alcohol, fueled by the opioid explosion, has created an increase in homes unsafe for our children.

Licking County voters saw that need when they approved a new child services levy last fall to provide the needed resources to protect those children. But just a few months later, it is possible the federal government could undercut much of the good of that vote.

John Fisher, director of the Licking County Department of Job and Family Services, told county officials of his concern that the federal government could reduce or eliminate social services block grant money, also known as Title XX.

More:Feds could cut money used to investigate child abuse, neglect

The money is used for a variety of services across the country - its flexibility is part of the reason it is under attack because it is difficult to measure. But in Ohio the money is largely used to support children services, and in Licking County it is wholly used to investigate cases of child abuse and neglect.

Putting $400,000 of federal money for the county in jeopardy could not come at a worse time, with more than 500 children in the county's care, up more than a third from the start of 2017. At the end of 2017, there were 1,000 more children in foster care across Ohio compared to the start of the year.

And numbers only tell part of these stories. Each of these cases has their own heartbreak. The horrific case in Pataskala where a mother and her boyfriend were arrested after a two-year-old was found struggling to survive her injuries highlights the importance of the work done by county investigators. Can we afford having fewer people looking into cases like this?

More:2-year-old fighting for life; mother, boyfriend arrested

What is putting this federal grant money at risk are potential automatic spending cuts triggered by an increasing federal deficit. To us this shows the discussions that did not happen as part of the Republican-backed federal tax cut. The bill was approved without corresponding spending cuts, so therefore is expected to increase the deficit by billions of dollars.

Yes saving money on our taxes is nice, but taxes can provide value if they pay for a service that is important to the community. This can be seen on the local level where Newark residents complain that the city won't be paving neighborhood streets. Yet those residents as a whole continue to reject tax increases that would pay to pave neighborhood streets.

Because Ohio provides less money than any other state in the country on children services, Licking County is largely reliant on its federal and local support.

So we call on our federal legislators to preserve these critical dollars for Licking County. Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, Rep. Pat Tiberi and whoever replaces him must work diligently to ensure this money is safe from an accountant's scalpel. If more accountability is needed, we are confident our county can prove the money is well spent.

We must not balance the federal budget on the back of our children's safety.