‘Very difficult decisions’: Gaston County eliminates Community Support Services Division

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Gaston County announced the elimination of its Community Support Services Division Wednesday evening.

According to County Manager Matt Rhoten, 11 positions are being eliminated.

The departments under the Community Support Services Division, Hope United Survivor Network, Veterans Services, and ACCESS will be resigned within the county, and their services are expected to be unaffected.

Rhoten said the work being done on the opioid crisis and homelessness in Gaston County will be shifted to other staff within the Department of Health and Human Services.

“These are very difficult decisions we don’t take lightly, knowing these changes impact valued staff and their families,” Rhoten said. “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.

The county is expected to save nearly $1.5 million annually through the elimination of these positions, according to Rhoten.

It is also assessing the future use of the CSS building on Long Avenue, which could lead to additional savings.

A group that has already seen drastic cuts is the unhoused.

They say the county needs to add more services, not less.

The news of the cuts came on a dreary day for those who could not escape the cold rain.

“We are exposed to all different life-threatening events and situations,” said James Adams Jr., formerly unhoused.

Support groups helped Adams find a home four years ago.

Eliminating CSS will make things worse, he said.

‘It’s devastating’

Jennifer Blanton volunteers to feed people on the street for Gateway Ministries.

“When you say another service is closing, it’s devastating,” Blanton said.

She said the Salvation Army was the only shelter in the county until it shut down in August.

Some groups that help the unhoused have had to cut back.

“They don’t have a safe place to sleep. They are concerned with the cold weather coming,” she said.

County spokesman Adam Gaub said replacing the services won’t be easy.

However, they must make cuts.

“The county simply can’t do everything for the community,” said Gaub, director of Communications.

Services for the unhoused will have to be swept into the Department of Health and Human Services.

“A lot of that work is just going to get reallocated,” Gaub said.

County officials are also relying on churches and other nonprofits to help fill in the gaps, he said.

Gaub said the office closes in 90 days, which should give them time to prepare for the transition.

They also believe some people may leave as soon as they can find another job.

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