December 2017

Meet Marcus
 
This tough guy is all about playing football the best that he can.

He likes to play defense because he finds tackling the other team exciting. When he isn't playing football, he watches it on TV and cheers on his favorite teams. Football is almost 24/7 for Marcus, so much that he wants be a football player when he grows up.
When he's not playing or watching football, Marcus can be found toying with his Leapster or watching cartoons.  Right now, he loves Super Why!and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He will listen to hip/hop music and some songs from various Disney movies.

Marcus' favorite place to visit when it's nice outside is the Cincinnati Nature Center-he loves to camp, hike, and go boating.
Marcus is a thoughtful, energetic young boy. He will need a family that can encourage this behavior while also teaching him to express his other emotions properly. An active family, with maybe a few dogs Marcus can play with, will be the perfect fit!


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We are so grateful for community support

'Tis the season of giving, and our agency could not be more grateful.

I could not list all of the people who help our children during the holidays or throughout the year. I write a lot of thank you letters, and for that I am extremely thankful.

But this time of year is especially busy with folks who want to help the foster and kinship children of Hamilton County. I would like to provide as many as possible with special recognition.

Here is a list of some of the people and organizations who will help us during this holiday season:
  • First Financial Bank and Xerox Corp will combine to provide funding for a holiday party and gifts for more than 200 children who are in the permanent custody of our agency. And the Marvin Lewis Foundation and Cincinnati Bengals players attend to make it even more special!
  • Chubb Insurance is also helping to finance gifts for our children awaiting adoption, and they have brought along S P Agency, Inc., to assist. Fifth Third Bank is also shopping for a list of our foster youth.
  • Jamie Jennings of the "Horses in the Morning" podcast out of Phoenix noticed our adoption and foster care website and was so touched by the children that she asked her listeners to send contributions to our FAMILY Fund so the money could be used to enrich their lives. So far, more than $2,500 has been raised! If you would like to donate to the FAMILY fund, you can find out more here: www.hcjfs.org/family-fund. 
  • The Karen Carns Foundation donated more than 50 coats to foster and kinship youth in our agency. 
OMJ uses new incentives to draw clients back

To draw more people to the OhioMeansJobs Resource Center, staff sent out letters inviting all consumers who had signed in at the center in September and October to come back.

That increased attendance from 540 in September to 572 in October.
Ms. Johnson with her raffle basket.

They added an incentive the following month - a Thanksgiving basket to be raffled. All the clients had to do to enter was bring in the letter they received. Client A. Johnson was happy with her winnings.

Kevin Holt, OhioMeansJobs section chief, said it's an unusual time right now in that relatively few people are looking for jobs while a lot of employers are desperate for workers. So Cynthia Frietch came up with this idea to attract more job seekers into the OMJ office. She sent out the mailings and collected donations for the basket from OMJ staff.

Congratulations to our CSEA for state awards

Our Hamilton County Child Support Enforcement Agency earned  three awards from the state for outstanding performance:
  • Most Improved Paternity Establishment in the Metro Caseload Division
  • Most Improved Collections on Current Support in the Metro Caseload Division
  • Total Disbursement per Total FTE in the Metro Caseload Division
CSEA Director Michael Patton praised his employees..
 
"Our entire team deserves credit for this state recognition," he said. "They worked hard to ensure all of our clients are being served effectively and efficiently and these awards reflect that hard work."


Our 11th annual
 Adoption Day

Ten children were adopted into seven families on our 11th annual National Adoption Day, Nov. 17.

It was a great day for the kids and four our Children's Services unit, specifically our adoptions team.
 
Congratulations to all of the caseworkers and their supervisors for all the work that goes in behind the scenes before this big happy day. And thank you to Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph Winkler and his staff for making it a wonderful day.