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Lakewood human services budget holds steady as county grants fund new positions
Summary
Director Chad Berry told council the department is largely funding expanded casework and early‑childhood supports through external grants (roughly $700,000 per year from Cuyahoga County), received mobility vehicle grants and reallocated line items so some apparent spikes reflect accounting moves rather than new spending.
Human Services Director Chad Berry told the Finance Committee that his division’s priorities for 2025 center on community supports, operational efficiencies and disaster preparedness, and that most near‑term program expansions will be supported by outside funds.
Berry said the department served roughly "about 120 folks a day" through its aging services and highlighted a recent mobility grant that will cover approximately $100,000 of a new transportation vehicle; the department also secured $50,000 from the Lakewood Foundation for additional vehicles. He described a request submitted to Cuyahoga County for additional case management capacity — the county funding would cover the full salaries and a significant share of fringe benefits for the positions.
Council members probed whether line‑item increases in the division represented new spending or internal reclassification. Berry and staff said several multi‑thousand percent spikes on printouts were accounting shifts — funds moved into contractual services from other categories — and that most of the proposed positions tied to county contracts would not burden the general fund. Berry added the department plans focused outreach to understand unmet need for early childhood scholarship programs and will work with the Healthy Lakewood Foundation and other local partners to supplement CDBG and ARPA dollars.
Members asked about the senior transportation partnership; Berry said the current mix of one full‑time and two part‑time drivers has performed well, that service partners are engaged in planning, and that scheduling is the principal operational challenge. He said the department is continuing a small, pilot farmer’s market and expanding family‑room early childhood programming after a 30th‑anniversary year.
The committee did not take formal action; councilors thanked Berry for the department’s grant‑seeking and operational work and asked for further updates on utilization and service metrics in the coming year.
