Iola’s Kansas Department for Children and Families service center, which administers welfare benefits to local residents in need, will close this fall.
The 15 staffers received a letter earlier this month from Rob Estell, east regional director of DCF, confirming the closure.
“Due to the declining number of clients requesting services through this office, closing this particular service center made the most sense,” Estell wrote.
The Iola office serves clients in Allen and Woodson counties. Those services for walk-in clients now will be handled in Chanute.
“With the availability of applications and contact information through our public website, many clients will likely communicate via the internet or by phone,” Estell wrote.
Closing the Iola center had been considered for the past couple of years, as part of a statewide effort to consolidate services, and was approved earlier this year by the State Legislature, noted Theresa Freed, DCF spokeswoman.
Freed said 1,924 clients receive welfare benefits through the Iola office. Others (fewer than 500) receive vocational rehabilitation services and prevention and protection services.
Each of the 15 employees at the Iola office will retain their jobs, Estell wrote, but will commute to Chanute once the closure becomes effective sometime this fall.
A handful may remain in Iola for a brief time in a satellite location until the transition is complete.
