LIMA — In four decades at Allen County Job and Family Services, Steve Barker has witnessed a paradigm shift in how the agency approaches its work, from his early days as a food stamp case worker through the past four years as the agency’s director. As he prepares to retire from the agency the end of this year, he believes the office is moving in a good direction.
“The biggest thing that we have done that is absolutely a major move forward is moving from providing assistance, which we still do, to providing the opportunity for employment, giving people the job skills they need to get employment, helping people who are in low-paid starter jobs move up to higher paying jobs,” he said. “I give [Workforce Development Coordinator] Joe Patton so much credit with the job center, making inroads into getting agencies and area companies in league with us so they send us people or come to us to get people.”
Barker emphasized the inroads his agency has made in helping impart “soft” skills on clients who come to JFS, especially for clients who may not have any work experience to begin with.
“When I first came here, there were two and three generations of families on assistance, and that was a way of life,” he said. “What we do is help teach the soft skills — how to complete an application, how to fill out a resume, how to conduct yourself in an interview, how to impress an employer with what your skills and abilities are and then staying with it and respecting your employer and work in the system.”
Patton has worked at the agency for over two decades and has served under Barker the entire time. Having Barker no longer in the office will take some adjustment, he said.
“It’ll be hard,” he said. “He’s done a great job mentoring me throughout the years and helping to bring me up in supervision.”
Barker hopes that, in the subsequent months and years after his retirement, more people in the area will come to know what services JFS has to offer that can help improve residents’ quality of life.
“We’re about trying to give people options to better their lives,” he said. “The one message I want to tell everybody is, ‘Please come and see us. Let us know what your situation is and find out how we might be able to help you.’”
A transition plan is in place to replace Barker, with an announcement expected to come next week.
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