Marion SRS office could close in July
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
When will the Marion SRS office close? And what happens when it does?
These were some of the questions posed Monday afternoon during a public meeting at the Marion City Building. The meeting was held by the Emporia SRS office, and it drew more than 40 concerned citizens representing county agencies, nursing homes, schools, and other organizations.
Due to budget cuts by then-Gov. Bill Graves in 2002, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services, or SRS, said it would close 22 offices. The Marion County office, based in Marion, was spared from that first round of closures.
But it wasn't spared from the most recent round of closures, announced early this month. This round closes 43 more SRS offices, including Marion's.
SRS serves Kansas in several specific zones, and with the Marion office closing, the El Dorado office will now represent Marion County communities.
The six employees working at the Marion office will commute to El Dorado now. Until Monday, even those local SRS employees didn't know what would happen next.
Cyrilla Petracek and Jaryl Perkins, both of the Emporia SRS office, conducted the meeting.
The state office hasn't yet set an exact closing date for Marion, but it will probably be in July, Petracek said.
The state of Kansas once had a law requiring an SRS office in each county, she said. That law doesn't exist anymore.
As the state began sliding into its current financial crisis, SRS officials started asking how they could save money while still offering the same services. Their solution? Cut "brick and mortar" costs. Move the office to another town and lose the cost of renting that building.
No staff members will be laid off, Petracek said. They'll move to another office.
Consolidating SRS offices does bring advantages, she said. SRS will require less "face to face" contact, and more business can be conducted over the phone or Internet.
For example, SRS will soon set up a toll-free number that will direct clients to their local office. They can activate food stamps over the phone using an access code. They can interview through a "tele-eye," which operates like an Internet webcam. They can fill out applications online.
"It's technology we really haven't taken advantage of," Petracek said.
But to maintain a physical presence in the county, SRS is asking local organizations to serve as "access sites." Maybe one agency could offer brochures and a copier or phone. Another place might let clients use their computer to access the Internet or give them interview space in an unused room.
Petracek stressed, "We're not asking you to be mini SRS offices."
Jaryl Perkins shared some statistics from the Marion County area. As of December 2002, SRS served 652 individuals in the county. A quarter of them live in Marion, a quarter live in Hillsboro, and a quarter live in Peabody.
And from that perspective, 75 percent of county residents didn't have an office either, he said. SRS should have presences, or access sites, in Hillsboro and Peabody too.
Some people wonder what happens if a client doesn't have a phone to make a call or transportation to the SRS office. But these challenges have always existed, Perkins said.
"No matter what strategy it's not going to cover everyone," he said.
The meeting also tackled many of the questions people posed.
Some county residents have asked why clients couldn't travel to the Newton office. Most county residents travel to Newton more often than they go to El Dorado, just like Tampa and Ramona residents travel to Salina and Abilene.
In the future, SRS would like to achieve that kind of "universal access," Perkins said. He doesn't want the SRS zones to be rigid like school district lines, but for now the El Dorado center represents Marion County.
Others wondered if having the office so far away would be a problem with family investigations. Would social workers be able to visit families and individuals on time?
Federal guidelines have established certain times that SRS must follow, Petracek said.
Some at the meeting were concerned that getting people transportation to El Dorado would be a problem.
To solve that challenge, SRS will be allowing more processes to take place over the phone and not just in person. And to get workers out to homes in the county, it's just a matter of good scheduling, Perkins and Petracek said.
Noreen Weems, of the Marion County Department of Aging, was concerned that the toll-free number wouldn't let clients talk to a human voice and instead lead them through a series of "press one, press two" scenarios.
When you dial the number, Petracek said, the system will route you to your local SRS office — in this case, El Dorado. They'll try to have people staffing the line.
Overall, county personnel are concerned that moving the SRS office away means a heavier workload for them.
"We'll be doing more, and we're already doing a lot," Weems said.
Petracek acknowledged that the process of moving and finding access sites will be a long one.
"This won't be our last town hall meeting," she said.
