OFO Closed Shelters
With One-Day Notice,
County Board Learns
Reps Ask: What’s Agency’s Responsibility?
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
ONEONTA – On the morning of Tuesday, March 17, Opportunities for Otsego advised the county Social Services Department it was closing its shelters by 5 p.m. that evening.
“OFO said, because of the new social distancing, they were shutting their doors,” County Attorney Ellen Coccoma advised the county Board of Representatives as this morning’s monthly meeting, held via Facebook Live for the first time.
This involved less than 10 people, and DSS was successful in finding lodging for them in hotels and motels, said county Rep. Adrienne Martini, D-Oneonta, who chairs the county board Human Services Committee.
The county attorney and county board Chair Dave Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Middlefield/Cherry Valley, is seeking advice from Albany on OFO’s responsibility, she said, adding, “I want them to follow the law. We don’t know what the law is at this point.”
The 10 people were in the domestic violence shelter, the homeless shelters, and what’s called the “code blue” facility, for people who need shelter from the cold.
From what can be determined, “OFO is the only agency in our county that does this,” said Martini. “The information we have is it was the only similar agency in the state that closed in this manner.”
A call to OFO’s headquarters this afternoon was answered by a recording that said OFO is closed. However, OFO announced on March 17 it was closing until April 14.
OFO, seem to have develop there own practice when it comes to rendering services to the underserved population in Otsego county. Nonetheless, there agency continues to get the bulk of grant monies being allocated in this county. Catholic Charities doors are always open to all the applicants when they receive a denial from OFO.