By Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal-World—Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Robert Siedlecki Jr. announces that the state has come to a compromise with Douglas County in keeping the county’s SRS office open. The office was slated to close along with eight other offices in the state. The Douglas County office in Lawrence was by far the largest office targeted for closure. It has 75 employees and serves thousands of people each month.

Photo: Susana Mariscal

In lieu of closing, the county has agreed to pay $450,000 to the state to keep the office running. Three of the other communities with offices facing closure also decided to pay the state to continue to provide direct services.

While people in the community are happy to see the office stay open, Douglas County Commissioner Mike Gaughan wishes SRS would have taken a different approach.

“I suppose it is a case of better late than never,” Gaughan said. “I’m sure SRS clients and their families and SRS employees would have preferred SRS reach out to local communities before making announcements like this if they are really interested in partnerships.”

An announcement was made on July 1st that all eight offices would close September 30th to cut costs in SRS. The remaining five offices that could not pay for their own offices closed at the end of September.

Courtesy of Lawrence Journal-World

Original Article: Four communities — including Lawrence — agree to pay state to retain SRS offices

Link: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/sep/01/four-communities-including-lawrence-agree-pay-stat/