Dayton’s ombudsman marks 55 years of standing up for citizens, and its workload is growing

“To be able to help resolve problems and get a resolution to problems is the joy of ombudsman work,” said Ombudsman Diane Wellborn, who has served in the role since 1999. ”People have something that appears insurmountable to them and it may not be in the end once we unpack everything. There are a large number of things that can be brought to an ombudsman office. Sometimes we can solve it in a day and sometimes it takes months. It just depends on the problem itself and what we have to do and who we have to involve to get it resolved."

The office is proud to stand in the gap for those who have difficulty navigating governmental lingo.

“Government does not always do a beautiful job of communicating with its citizens, particularly around their individual matters because many letters that go out are not specific to the person’s problem — they’re more generalized,” Wellborn said. “But with our experience, training and expertise, we can usually see through that, and with their permission, we are able to investigate the complaints they’re making and find out what the steps of resolution are. Or if the person is not going to receive a resolution we can tell they’re looking for, we can explain to them why not and what law, regulation or policy is the reason they’re seeing this barrier such as having too much money or too many resources.”

The ombudsman office helps people of all ages through an array of matters such as IRS, judicial, Social Security and identification-related questions.

One incident involved a man who reached out to the ombudsman for help with Social Security information. He had paperwork stating the monthly amount of disability benefits he would receive over the next few months were reduced.

According to the ombudsman’s office, the man was confused about the reason for the reductions, saying nothing had changed in his part-time employment or any other aspect of his life.

The ombudsman helped him figure it out, stating it was being taken for the man’s child support obligation.

He was informed the letter from the SSA was also saying he was eligible for the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program through Medicaid, which will pay for his Part B premiums.

The ombudsman explained how the man would apply for those benefits and how that would impact his monthly income.

Wellborn acknowledged the office continues to adapt and monitor to shifting trends.

“Access to benefit and clarification of benefits have always been a part of ombudsman office work and those have changed through the years as our population has aged and as the agencies themselves have changed,” she said. ”We have stricter identifications requirements in our communities than we did 10 or 15 years ago. So, it is not as easy to obtain, necessarily, a birth certificate if one were born in another state and now lives here. Transportation issues have also changed with the advent of charter schools for which public schools are responsible for helping children and families get to buildings on time."

She also reflected on the variety of complaints the office has received over the years.

“Our complaints span everything from potholes — which is the government at work — to water service to traffic lights," Wellborn said. “Each complaint is unique to the person. If our office receives several complaints in a day or a couple of days about the same issue it immediately raises our senses to understand that it is a more systemic issue — it’s not just one person who has a flooding issue in their neighborhood but larger than that, which helps us ramp it up a bit to take the issue to the proper authority."

In addition the ombudsman is mindful of concerns within aging populations. The office’s staff serves as advocates for residents of nursing homes, long-term care and assisted living facilities, and other adult care services.

“As we have an even larger number of senior citizens in our communities, the problems they have are in many areas because they are no longer attached to the workforce, for the most part, so their situations have changed and the neighborhoods around them may be changing,” Wellborn said.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Assessing the past 55 years while looking ahead to the future, the ombudsman office is grateful that some issues are not as prevalent anymore but there is always room from growth.

“When you look back at the past, a lot of problems have been solved — like animal control — but it seems like there is a never-ending supply of new ones," Wellborn said. “And within the larger context, a lot of ombudsman around the world — my colleagues — have been moving toward working more on human rights issues. And we in the United States don’t have that focus on human rights that often exists in other countries," Wellborn said.

“There is inequity in our society with respect to residential housing and with access to various resources. It is not equal. We want to see more equity in that area so all of our residents have an access to their human rights and access to service that enables them to improve their life and increase their education and access to resources,” she said.

“Many neighborhoods and areas need more access to justice.”

MORE DETAILS

Montgomery County residents can contact the ombudsman by mail or in person at 11 W. Monument Ave. Suite 606, Dayton, OH 45402; call 937-223-4613 or email ombudsman@dayton-ombudsman.org.

For more information, visit dayton-ombudsman.org.