ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services announced its annual school clothes for kids program at Wednesday’s Belmont County Board of Commissioners meeting.

DJFS Fiscal Administrator Jack Regis Jr. said that the application deadline runs until 4 p.m. Friday, June 25. Regis said that is a hard deadline, so no applications will be accepted after that time.

He said that both the DJFS location at 68145 Hammond Rd. in St Clairsville and Ohio Means Jobs location at 302 Walnut St. in Martins Ferry will be accepting the applications from residents until the deadline.

The program will be offered at the Ohio Valley Mall and will provide Temporary Assistance to Needy Family funds with the purpose to serve children whose families are at or below 141% of the federal poverty level.

“I have witnessed the countless numbers of families and children this program has helped over the last eight years, and it is something our residents are grateful for,” Belmont County Commissioner Jerry Echemann said. “The appreciation of the children is remarkable and the dedication of the entire JFS staff to make this program the success it has become is satisfying.”

Regis added that since DJFS started the program, roughly $3.5 million has been invested into the community through TANF funding DJFS has received.

“People don’t seem to feel the impacts at the local level all of the time, but what happens in (Washington) D.C. affects our ability to do this program, and we’re certainly grateful that we’re able to do it again this year,” Regis said.

Commissioner Vince Gianangeli told Regis that he personally looks forward to this specific program every year because of how happy it makes the families that it serves.

“DJFS has always been a leader in the state in administrating the School Clothes for Kids Program,” Gianangeli said. “It’s one of the largest programs in all of the counties. I’m thankful that we can once again provide our families with this opportunity and I appreciate the staff who work diligently making sure this program is successful.”

Regis said that the standards for the monthly gross income for the program are for household sizes of two children $2,486; three children, $3,132; four children $3,778; five children $4,424; six children $5,071; and seven children $5,717.

He added that the monthly gross income is the amount before any taxes or other deductions are removed.

He then said that household income includes but isn’t limited to earnings from traditional employment, self-employment income, unemployment compensation, child support, spousal support, worker’s compensation, Supplemental Security Income, Social Security, and gas and oil royalties.

“This is one of the programs that we do that I really enjoy participating in,” Regis said. “It’s just really nice sending the kids off to school with new clothes, it makes them feel good about going to school. And also kudos to our staff, they’ve had to process all these applications and also do their own work at the same time. So they get really busy this time of year, and they try to get them done as quickly as they can.

“It’s very crazy for the next four or five weeks inside our agency with this program,” he added. “The staff is truly remarkable, they push through and get it done and we’re certainly impressed by it every year.”

He added that families applying must have children who will be in kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2025-26 school year.

Once the families apply, they will be notified if they’re eligible through the mail.

Regis said once the families are approved they will be assigned a shopping day at the Ohio Valley Mall.

The families who are approved will receive an Ohio Valley Mall gift card per child that they will be able to use at all stores that sell clothing at the Ohio Valley Mall and its surrounding plaza.