Fannin County’s Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will not be closing permanently.
The threat of closure arose amid concerns over a budget deficit for the state.
“We’ve actually just had the most recent budget approved by the state, and fortunately, the office closures across the state have been taken off that proposed budget, so no, we won’t be closing,” DFCS Director Mark Knowles said.
Fannin was on the list to close, however, “the expected budget deficit wasn’t as great as it was first anticipated,” he said.
The reduction of DFCS staff has also been taken off the budget.
The governor approved the budget two weeks ago.
“We were thankful for that ... that was a massive plus for not only my staff but also the community,” Knowles said. “We’ve heard concerns from citizens within the community asking how they would get Food Stamps, Medicaid and TANIF and those such programs if there wasn’t a county office.
“That’s gone, and we hope to never hear those words again, and we hope that the budgets at the state level remains sufficient so that we can continue with our services within Fannin County. That was a scary time for us.”
The office is currently closed due to COVID-19, and staff is working remotely.
Anyone needing assistance is urged to visit gateway.ga.gov for Food Stamps and Medicaid benefits and dfcs.georgia.gov for other services. Help is also available by calling 877-423-4746.
“Work goes on, it’s just in a different format,” Knowles said. “We’re still meeting the needs of all cases whether it be CPS (Child Protective Services) or whether it be OFI, and business goes on. I think we have seen that the numbers of OFI, like Food Stamps, Medicaid and such applications have increased with the COVID, and we’ve managed those.
“And I believe that, at this point in time, we’re moving on to a review of those cases, which tells us they’ve been approved, the families have been receiving the services.”