Dozens working on anti-poverty strategies

Firm hired, larger committee formed to brainstorm plan.

Franklin County may hire a liaison to coordinate public and private efforts to better address poverty in central Ohio.

A more-formalized, collaborative structure, whether based in the Board of County Commissioners office or elsewhere, is one possible outcome of a strategic plan being developed to help needy residents.

“This problem isn’t just government, this problem isn’t just business, this problem isn’t just agencies,” said David Moore, president of Moore Strategic Consulting, the firm hired by the commissioners to lead the anti-poverty effort.

Moore’s group has been at work for several months on the plan, including leading a steering committee session last week in Columbus.

The county commissioners approved a $262,369 contract with the firm in July to develop a community-wide plan. County officials want to provide a path toward economic sustainability for 35,000plus area families living in poverty and thousands of others struggling to make ends meet.

The strategic plan efforts were begun in September, and there have been more than 20 work group sessions involving participants from all walks of life.

A larger steering committee, which includes about three dozen representatives of government, nonprofit, school, business and other groups, also is having monthly sessions to review new data, brainstorm ideas for initiatives to better support needy residents, and discuss ways other communities have worked to reduce poverty rates.

Joy Bivens, director of the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services, said the sessions have spurred discussion on several common themes, including the need for stable, affordable housing, transportation options for residents to get to and from jobs and other appointments; and jobs created closer to where job-seekers live.

Early next year, the meetings and discussions will result in the creation of a clear, written set of strategies and goals that will include short-term policies and longer-term changes, Moore said.

“Every sustained effort I’ve seen in any community starts somewhere with groups of people being committed to get started,” he said.