Wendy Hill, Dan Ramirez, and Chris Phillips of the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) attended the regular meeting of the Harney County Court on April 4 to provide an overview of the services that are being provided in Harney County.

Hill, who is the DHS District 14 manager, reported that 73 individuals currently receive  Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits in Harney County. These individuals belong to one of 22 single-parent families or seven two-parent families.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ website, TANF provides a cash grant to “help needy families achieve self-sufficiency.”

Ramirez, who is the DHS District 14 Self-Sufficiency Program manager, said he’s noticed an increase in TANF recipients during the last four or five years. He added that he’s unsure whether the families are new to Harney County, but he can probably gather that information.

Hill noted that there is a lifetime limit of 60 months for receiving TANF benefits.

“People can’t just remain languishing in a TANF program,” she said, noting that there are some exceptions.

Ramirez explained, “Sometimes there are exceptions if they have disabilities [or] hardships, but they have to make those requests through Salem.”

Hill added, “This is not a living wage. People are in extreme poverty when they’re on TANF.”

She noted that people who receive TANF benefits can also receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; assistance with job search and training; and referrals for drug, alcohol, and mental health treatment.

“We work with all of our community partners in trying to help shore up the family to actually get them back out in the working world,” Hill said.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s website, “SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities.”

Hill noted that, in 2017, the SNAP program brought $1,837,855 into Harney County.

“So that supports those local businesses to keep things going,” she said.

Ramirez stressed that the program is only intended to provide supplemental nutrition assistance.

“It’s not supposed to be something that people can live off,” he said. “They might have a part-time job and still be eligible for the SNAP program. It sometimes can be very small amounts, [but] even a small amount is worth it for a lot of people.”

Hill added, “There’s not many that do not work. These are working families that are just supplementing their nutrition. They’re all hardworking families, as a matter of fact.”

Hill noted that Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) have to be actively seeking work or working in order to qualify for SNAP benefits.

However, Ramirez noted that Harney County’s ABAWDs (approximately 192 people) are currently exempt from these requirements due to economic conditions in the area.

“In my opinion, based on the numbers we have, there’s not a lot of jobs for them to be out there job searching,” Ramirez explained.

However, he noted that there’s been discussion about removing exemptions in counties across the state.

Harney County Commissioner Mark Owens asked, “Can we expedite that, so that we’re not exempt?”

Owens added that he thinks active job search should be a minimum requirement.

Ramirez said he believes it would be a state decision.

Harney County Judge Pete Runnels asked whether there’s a time limit for receiving SNAP benefits. Ramirez replied that there isn’t a time limit as long as participants meet the income eligibility requirements, adding that eligibility is reviewed every six months.

Owens asked whether there’s been an increase in SNAP recipients in Harney County.

“There’s a lot of anecdotal conversation in the community about the insurgence or the rise of people getting assistance, so that information, I think, will be really valuable for us,” Owens said, adding that he’d also like  to know whether program participants have recently moved to the area.

Ramirez said he can collect that information and share it with the court.

Rob Frank said, “There is absolutely an uptick of people coming to our county to take advantage of our social services, and I know that would be hard to quantify with data because there are multiple agencies involved.”

He added, “I realize the intent of these social services is to help people, but I think it would be naive to not recognize that so many people abuse these. [There are] multigenerational families who are brought up [that] that’s how you make a living — is you abuse this system. And so many people are abusing this system and being sent here, even though none of the agencies may say, ‘Yes they are sent here.’”

Frank added, “It is adversely affecting our schools and our culture, overall, our community, and it makes me so happy that the county is looking at this and recognizes the problem. But, as long as the state and federal agencies are in charge of it, our hands are tied. There’s nothing our county can do to protect itself from having these people continuously sent in. And, by and by, it doesn’t seem coincidental to me this uptick in opioid abuse and methamphetamines coincides with the fact that a person doesn’t have to work. If you milk the social services, you don’t have to work. You don’t have to choose between eating dinner or taking some oxycodone because you can get money from the state and the feds, and until that safety net goes away, I just think it’s going to be a continuing problem.”

Hill replied, “I would really like to know who’s sending people to Harney County.”

She added that DHS is encouraging self-sufficiency by using family coaches to engage families in homes and schools.

DHS staff also discussed the Oregon Food Stamp Employment Transition Program, SNAP 50/50, the Employment-Related Day Care program, Oregon Health Plan, assistance for survivors of domestic violence, Court Appointed Special Advocates, foster care, and staffing in the Harney County office.

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The court revisited its conversation concerning mapping applications.

Residents of Greenhouse Lane attended the Jan. 24 county court meeting to express concern regarding increased traffic in their neighborhood.

Bill Peila said he thinks mapping apps are routing travelers down Greenhouse Lane to bypass Burns and Hines, and he expressed concern about public safety.

“That road is not designed for heavy traffic,” he said, explaining that it’s frequently used for agricultural activities, such as moving cattle.

Noting that multiple accidents have already occurred, he added, “The more traffic [that] comes through there, the more wrecks we’re going to see.”

During the meeting on April 4, Runnels reported that he received an email from Andrew Ladner of Google stating that routing priorities for Greenhouse Lane, Hotchkiss Lane, Lottery Lane, Oil Well Road, Island Ranch Road, and Embree Bridge Road were updated.

Runnels said, “Google was great to work with.”

Runnels, Harney County Roads Supervisor Eric Drushella, and Geographical Information Systems Coordinator Bryce Mertz will continue to address routing issues with other mapping entities.

•••

In other business, the court:

• reviewed the 2017 Harney County audit with Cara Wilber of Oster Professional Group.

Wilber said the county received an unmodified opinion.

“It’s the best opinion we can give as auditors to the county,” she said;

• appointed Merle Reid to the Harney County Planning Commission.

His term will end June 30, 2021;

• appointed Jeff Sceirine (Emergency Medical Services manager), Dr. Sarah Laiosa (physician), Perrilyn Wells (emergency medical technician), Susan Doverspike (Harney County Health District Board of Directors), Mayor Jerry Woodfin (Burns City Council), Councilor John Mims (Hines Common Council), Hines Police Chief Ryan DeLange (law enforcement), and Denise Rose and Stacie Rothwell (members of the public) to two-year terms on the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee.

Runnels (Harney County Court) was appointed to the committee during the March 14 county court meeting;

• approved Resolution 2018-05 in the matter of ratifying bylaws for the Harney County Planning Commission;

• upon recommendation by Drushella, approved Ronald B. and Mardella R. Stewart’s application to install a culvert on Stanclift Road;

• reviewed water use requests.

Owens explained that the requests are published by the state of Oregon, and any person in the state can comment on them. He added that the court doesn’t approve or deny requests, just reviews them to determine whether a comment is necessary;

• received correspondence regarding the town hall meetings that are being held by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to discuss its proposed 2019-2021 budget;

• will hold rural meetings in Fields April 30 and Riley May 16.

The next meeting of the Harney County Court will be held Wednesday, April 18, at 10 a.m. in Runnels’ office at the courthouse.