STEUBENVILLE — A Caring Place staff and board members were at Thursday’s Jefferson County commissioners meeting to plead for help plugging a looming $96,000 hole in their budget.

The child advocacy center provides a safe and supportive environment for children who have been physically and sexually abused, affording them a kid-friendly, non-threatening setting where trained staff will help gather information needed for investigations, prevention and training. The agency also offers prevention and education programs and works to ensure those committing crimes against children are prosecuted.

Director Amy Lingerfelt told commissioners she’d learned recently that Jobs and Family Services “will not be able to help fund us this year.” The $96,000 in funding they’ll lose represents about one-quarter of A Caring Place’s annual operating budget, she added.

“There’s a lot of kids depending on us,” she said. “… You can understand how two months, three months, notice that you’re not going to get a quarter of your annual operating budget, that’s going to have a huge impact.”

She said she’s confident JFS is doing the best it can with the funding it has available, “but we just know that we also have a need so that we can continue providing these services to our community.”

“By the time (these kids) get to us something has most likely happened, it’s just a matter of what,” Lingerfelt said. “I would say roughly 90 percent of our cases are substantiated. We all like to believe the world is safe and kids are safe, but at the end of the day your kids might be safe and we’re glad for that, but your neighbor’s kids may not be — and every child deserves a caring place. All children deserve place like this to be their voice, their advocate. At the end of the day, our staff provides a place of support and caring for these children at the worst time in their lives.”

Commissioners told Lingerfelt they can’t make any promises.

“I’m not ready to vote on any money today,” Commissioner Tony Morelli said. “I’m willing to try and find some. Your ask is $96,000, but if we say yes today next week it will be a full house, everyone will be here (asking).”

Commissioner Jake Kleineke said, “It’s a great cause, I just wish it wasn’t needed,” while Commissioner Eric Timmons said before they do anything they need to find out what they can do.

“We would have to ask our counsel if we would be allowed to give them money,” Timmons said. “One of my big concerns is, can we even do it?”

They also encouraged A Caring Place supporters to amp up fundraising efforts, which Lingerfelt said was already in their 2026 plans. Kleineke also asked Lingerfelt “what happens next year” if funding continues to evaporate.

“At least if it happens next year we’ll have some time to prepare,” Lingerfelt replied. “(We were) kind of trusting (the funding) would come through this year.”

Morelli, meanwhile, said executives at Glo Fiber, an internet service provider looking to come into Jefferson County, told him they were pausing the project because of too-high costs, including utility pole access. Based on AEP’s most recent quotes, he said the cost to use their poles could run twice as much as the $20,000-$25,000 they typically pay.

He said an AEP representative is expected to attend a meeting in the next couple of weeks to share their company’s perspective.

“The good part about it was Glo Fiber was going to (compete) in Mingo, Steubenville and Wintersville … but what really excited me was they were going to do 3,500 new connections for people who don’t have broadband (now), so it’s disappointing.”

He also said he’s not sure “what makes our poles so much more expensive, but it’s frustrating.”

Morelli, meanwhile, said he’d pressed the prospective buyer of the Cherry Avenue property for an update. “They’re working on a proposal of what they would do,” he said. “They have an architect, they have contractors (lined up). They’re supposed get back to us in two weeks.”

“I think it would be good if it went through,” he added.

Commissioners approved a new design for wall plaques in the courthouse honoring each of Jefferson County’s 10 medal of honor recipients. The new plaques, designed by Nelson Enterprises, feature a photo of the honorees as well as a brief narrative of their battlefield exploits set against a flag backdrop. The cost will be $600 for all 10.

They also agreed to submit letters of support for Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District’s AMLER grant proposals. The grant program keys on former mine lands’ economic revitalization. JSWCD is seeking AMLER funding for the new Rush Run Preserve outside Smithfield, as well as ongoing work at Hellbender Preserve, which opened earlier this year; Quaker Ridge Preserve; Piney Fork Preserve; and the Salineville (Morgan’s Raiders) battlefield in Salineville. All are situated on abandoned mining properties.

Commissioners also:

• Signed required documents authorizing the county’s three wastewater plant operators to submit monthly discharge monitoring reports to the EPA.

• Authorized the engineering department to purchase brine from the local ODOT maintenance facility on county Road 43 to pretreat salt for snow removal.

• Signed oil and gas leases for a little over seven county-owned acres in Steubenville and Wayne townships. The agreement increases the lease bonus to $6,000 an acre, along with a 20 percent gross royalty.