Senate approves $15 million per year increase for children services
On June 21, the Ohio Senate approved Am. Sub. HB 49, joining the House to provide an increased investment of $15 million per year for children services. This new funding — the first increase in the State Child Protection Allocation in more than a decade — will help address the impact that the opioid epidemic has had on children and their families. By investing new dollars for children services, the Senate has ensured that public child protection agencies can more appropriately respond to the impact of Ohio’s opioid epidemic on children and families. The Senate also increased the investment for kinship child care to $15 million per year from the TANF Block Grant. PCSAO is extremely grateful to Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, Senate Finance Chair Scott Oelslager, Majority Floor Leader Randy Gardner, Senator Jay Hottinger and members of the Ohio Senate for recognizing these innocent victims of the opioid epidemic by providing this significant investment in children services. The Conference Committee will iron out the differences between the House-and Senate-passed versions. The budget bill will then go to the Governor for possible line-item vetoes and signature. Governor Kasich must sign the budget no later than June 30.
Ohio START update
The 19 Southern PCSAs participating in the Ohio START pilot program continue with the planning phase to move forward with implementation by October 1, 2017. Discussions have begun to determine responsibilities with local county partners, including behavioral health providers and juvenile/family courts. The evaluation team from OSU and OU are beginning to collect information from the PCSAs, screening tools have been researched, and recommendations are forthcoming. One area yet to be determined is the number of certified peer recovery supporters that will be required for each county to meet the needs of the program, but it is known that there is more need than availability currently. The Steering Committee is working on drafting a template for convening community events for the PCSAs to use to assist in recruitment. Information on the process to be a certified peer recovery supporter may be accessed at Ohio Mental Health & Addiction Services.
OJFSDA hosts new director orientation
PCSAO was pleased to support our sister association in its new director orientation last week. Scott Britton provided an overview of children services to more than a dozen new directors and senior staff.
UPP evaluation available
The University Partnership Program has published its evaluation of the 2015-16 academic year. The colorful and easy-to-read report details results of student focus groups and includes both current statistics and a trajectory of participating students since the program began at each of the eight universities. The number of counties where students are placed for field supervision and ultimately hired has increased, and the course curriculum is aligned with recent changes to caseworker core and more consistent from university to university. Read more.
