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Children Services Adds More Security to New Office Building
By Dennis LaRueYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Mahoning County Children Services Board will spend nearly $75,000 to add bullet-resistent drywall, change some door locks and install cable and wiring for caseworkers' computers in its new building downtown.The executive committee of the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., which is overseeing construction of the four-story structure that will house Children Services and the state Bureau of Workers Compensation, this morning approved a change order for $74,792.Of that sum, just $50,000 will be spent on the wiring, $17,467 on bullet-resistent drywall in the child-care room and the balance on changing locks, said Denise Stewart, executive director of Children Services. Jance Construction Co., the general contractor, earlier installed bullet-resistent glass on the third and fourth floors, Jason Whitehead told informed the executive committee. Whitehead is executive director the CIC.Jance has completed all other work on the building -- both CSB staff and BWC staff have been moving into their new offices -- and been paid for that work, Whitehead reported.While no one has discharged a firearm inside Children Services offices in the South Side Annex, Stewart said, a caseworker for Franklin County's CSB was shot to death last year. Mahoning County sheriff's deputies -- one full-time, one part-time -- will continue to provide security when the agency moves downtown. The board has contracted with the sheriff's department and that department's reduced budget will affect CSB only to the extent of different deputies, if that, Stewart said.Today's CIC meeting of the executive committee was a rescheduled session, the first set well in advance of the lapses in security in Atlanta last weekend where a man charged with rape overpowered a deputy sheriff and used her weapon to shoot her, the judge presiding at his trial, his court reporter, another deputy sheriff and an immigration official after the man charged with rape escaped the courthouse.Other security measures the new CSB offices have in place are separate entrances for separated families to meet with caseworkers and family visitation rooms separate from caseworkers' offices, Stewart said.CSB has discussed the additional security measures with Jance, said Reid Dulberger, executive vice president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, which administers the CIC under contract. The state auditor recommended payment be handled through a change order rather than have the CIC enter a new contract with Jance once CSB was assured it had the funds to take the additional security measures."