LORAIN COUNTY — Public pressure continued to build Friday as striking Job and Family Services employees and community members told Lorain County commissioners that delayed Medicaid applications and benefit renewals are leaving vulnerable residents without answers and putting families in difficult situations.
During public comment at the April 24 Lorain County Commissioners meeting, multiple speakers described a growing backlog of Medicaid applications, nursing home placements and benefit renewals as the strike continues.
Former JFS worker and current nursing home business office manager Jennifer Gentile said families are already feeling the impact.
Gentile told commissioners she recently worked with a family whose loved one needed Medicaid approval to remain in a nursing facility after insurance coverage ended.
“I turned in every documentation, application, all of that stuff. I even pleaded with the long-term care supervisor to please get this done because this family desperately needs these benefits,” Gentile said.
She said the family eventually took their loved one home because they could not continue waiting without knowing when the Medicaid case would be processed.
“He did eventually want to take her home. He wasn’t comfortable with waiting for the application processing time because we had no idea with them being on strike how long it would take,” she said. “It never got done. It’s still not done to this day.”
Gentile said another Medicaid application submitted in March has received no updates and was told new applications are being placed into a case bank to be worked only after striking employees return.
“They said that all new applications are being distributed to a case bank and will be worked on when the case workers come back from strike,” Gentile said. “They’re only working on cases right now that were submitted in November.”
She also said benefit renewals are sitting untouched, creating uncertainty for elderly residents and families trying to secure long-term care.
Under Ohio Administrative Code, she said applications should be addressed within 45 days.
“I filed the state hearing because these applications should be at least touched within 45 days and it has been longer than that,” Gentile said.
Several current JFS employees also spoke, urging commissioners to return to negotiations with union workers.
Diane Green, an 18-year JFS employee, said she currently earns $17.56 per hour after nearly two decades of service.
“I don’t like being out on strike. I want to work. I hate being out here,” Green said. “It really hurts the community.”
Green said inexperienced replacement workers cannot simply be brought in to handle complex benefit cases.
“The experienced people are out here on strike. The answers are on the line. They have the answers. They have the experience,” she said.
“We are arguing over three things — $1 more an hour, retro pay, and the fact that the new hires are coming in making more than those of us with years of experience,” Ashley Lawson said.
She argued the county’s own wage proposals prove the gap could be solved.
“If you gave us the $1 and still gave them the 15%, it’s the same amount of money,” Lawson said. “That is what you call a negotiation.”
Multiple speakers said the county’s public messaging has focused too heavily on social media posts rather than direct bargaining.
Shauna Hatfield said the county should stop trying to negotiate publicly and return to the bargaining table.
“JFS is not running efficiently at all without the 115 trained workers that are out here on strike,” Hatfield said.
Other residents said the strike is hurting trust in county government and damaging services for seniors, low-income families and nursing home residents who depend on timely Medicaid approvals.
Repeatedly, speakers ended with the same request to commissioners:
“Just talk.”
