Gaston County eliminates Community Support Services Division, cutting 11 jobs

GASTONIA, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — Gaston County is cutting its Community Support Services Division , County Manager Matt Rhoten announced Wednesday.

As a result, eleven positions will be eliminated. One of the positions was vacant and the remaining ten employees have been given a 90-day notice to have time to apply for open jobs within or outside of county government, a spokesperson says.

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The programs and responsibilities of the CSS Division—Hope United Survivor Network, Veterans Services ACCESS and others—will move to other county divisions. Daily operations and services will not be impacted.

The work to address the opioid crisis and homelessness in the county will be moved under the Department of Health and Human Services. According to officials, the decision was made to more efficiently use tax dollars with a potential savings of $1.5 million annually.

"These are very difficult decisions we don't take lightly, knowing these changes impact valued staff and their families," County Manager Matt 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 working on how to use the CSS building on Long Avenue in the future.