Human services to partially vacate space
County to look into new uses
Trending
A change in how social service programs are delivered will mean more space available in the Ward County Administration Building by the end of the year.
The Ward County Commission on Tuesday directed its facilities committee to begin looking into potential uses for the fourth floor of the building once the Ward County Human Service Zone vacates the space.
"I know we have had some preliminary discussion about some possibilities," said Commissioner Shelly Weppler, who serves as a commission representative on the county's human service zone board. Weppler suggested the facilities committee, working with the county facilities manager, be the group to review potential uses and bring recommendations to the commission.
Over the past year, the human service zone has made changes in how it delivers services. In particular, people in need of economic assistance programs now primarily apply for services online and contact the customer support center by phone or email if they have questions.
With this change, the service zone's Economic Assistance employees have transitioned to remote work. In-person support remains available for walk-in Economic Assistance clients due to the presence of intake workers who remain office-based.
With the change, the human service zone has been able to consolidate all its staff on the third floor of the Ward County Administration Building. It is in the process of vacating the fourth floor, which is expected to happen well ahead of an initially projected Dec. 31 deadline.
"We're almost vacant at this point, which would allow the commission's facilities team to be able to look at options and come up with a different plan," Kristi Frederick, human service zone director, told commissioners.
With the state's takeover of social service functions, Ward County has been receiving reimbursement from the state for the human service zone's use of space in the county building. That amount would be recalculated and reduced starting in 2024 to reflect the zone's smaller footprint in the building.