Gaston County will eliminate its Community Support Services Division, which includes the county’s homelessness prevention task force, its veterans service office, a domestic violence shelter, its child protection and fatality teams, and staff managing the county's opioid settlement funds.
According to a news release, County Manager Matt Rhoten made the decision to eliminate the division’s 11 positions in an effort to save money.
"Our CSS staff did excellent work, but we also have a responsibility to our taxpayers to be as efficient with our resources as possible, and sometimes that means having to make a hard choice," Rhoten said in the release.
"We remain very much committed to working on these larger issues of homelessness and opioid addiction and recovery, but part of that work will be a greater partnership and empowerment of community organizations committed to tackling these complex questions.”
The announcement comes after the Salvation Army in June closed the county’s only homeless shelter.
According to the news release, the Hope United Survivor Network, Veterans Services and ACCESS will be reassigned to other county staff, and management of the county's opioid settlement funds and local homelessness prevention efforts would be transferred to the county's Department of Health and Human Services.
The cuts will save taxpayers more than $1.5 million a year, the news release said, adding that the county was also "assessing the future" of the CSS building on Long Avenue, "which could lead to additional cost savings."