PARIS — The town plans to outsource its General Assistance application process to Community Concepts.
Paris ended its merged General Assistance services with Norway after just two weeks, Town Manager Phil Tarr said at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen.
“Norway’s GA budget is a little more than twice ours,” Tarr said. He said GA Administrator Lynn Chammings couldn’t keep up with the influx of applications.
The merger had Chammings handling applications for both towns, while Paris gained access to Norway’s workfare program, which requires able-bodied GA recipients to work the equivalent number of hours at minimum wage for the town in return for money they receive.
Norway Town Manager David Holt has contracted GA services to Community Concepts, and Tarr said he wanted Paris to do the same. Paris would be able to use workfare and would have experienced Community Concepts employees handling the work.
Tarr said it would cost $28 per hour for 16 hours a week for the service, which comes to about $1,800 per month.
Selectmen wanted to look into the deal to formally approve it before going into a contract with Community Concepts. The issue will be on the agenda for the June 25 meeting.
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