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A quick rundown of Ohio child protection news this week
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Weekly Update for October 16, 2017
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Association Updates
Executive Membership meets at conference
PCSAO Executive Membership held a special meeting at the PCSAO Annual Conference Sept. 29 to officially approve a new formula for membership dues. In addition, members received important updates from ODJFS staff. Updates included Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), Bridges, kinship child care, Child Protection Oversight and Evaluation 11, and a workforce development technical assistance grant. The Executive Membership will meet next Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
Board of Trustees meets
The PCSAO Board of Trustees held its meeting Oct. 4 and approved September’s meeting minutes and treasurer’s report. The board selected a new auditing firm for 2017-2019, debriefed the Executive Membership meeting, began identifying officers for 2018, discussed next year’s contracts, and received legislative, policy and priority updates. The board will meet next Nov. 1.
Rules updates
The following rules were filed Oct. 12 and are scheduled for a public hearing Nov. 21. For more information, click on the links.
- 5101:2-16-43 Approval for Ohio department of education (ODE) programs to provide publicly funded child care
- 5101:2-53-01 Definitions related to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
- 5101:2-53-02 General provisions of ICWA
- 5101:2-53-03 Determination of Indian status, tribal eligibility and membership
- 5101:2-53-04 ICWA notice requirements
- 5101:2-53-05 Voluntary placement for temporary custody of Indian children
- 5101:2-53-06 Emergency removal and involuntary custody of Indian children
- 5101:2-53-07 Permanent surrender or parental consent to adoptive placement of Indian children
- 5101:2-53-08 Placement preference of Indian children
- 5101:2-53-09 Procedures for the transfer of Indian children to a tribal Title IV-E agency or an Indian tribe with a Title IV-E agreement
Foster Care Advisory Group holds first meeting
Established by the biennial state budget, the Foster Care Advisory Group met Oct. 10. ODJFS Director Cynthia Dungey kicked off the meeting, asking the group to develop policy and practice recommendations for streamlining the foster care certification process, improving recruitment and retention of caregivers, and helping address the opioid epidemic. Karen McGormley in the Office of Families and Children will chair the group as the director’s designee, and Mark Mecum of OACCA was elected co-chair. In addition to PCSAO and these groups, the Ohio Family Care Association, the Attorney General’s Office, foster parents, PCSA representatives (Richland and Fairfield), and private network agency representatives (House of New Hope and Homes for Kids) serve on the group. The group plans to meet monthly and deliver a report to the legislature by May 1, 2018.
ESSA webinar focuses on successes, challenges of educational stability
PCSAO hosted a webinar Oct. 11 led by Tom Capretta of the Ohio Department of Education and three PCSA representatives sharing successful strategies for implementing the foster care requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The recorded webinar and other links and tools are available
here
.
Metro counties meet to hear about re-entry reduction, workforce supports
Directors and senior staff from the 11 metro county agencies met Oct. 13 for the third and final Metro meeting of the year supported by Casey Family Programs. Presenters included Kirk O’Brien, PhD, of Casey Family Programs, who shared new research materials on sustaining permanency and preventing re-entry:
Noel Landuyt, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin shared an employee engagement survey and support program, and ODJFS provided updates on the CFSR, predictive analytics, and the new federal workforce grant.
Early voting has begun
Ohioans who have registered to vote may vote early between now and Election Day Nov. 7. Best of luck to the 11 counties with children services levies on the ballot!
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Announcements and Resources
Regional Thanksgiving dinners offered for foster youth, alums
For the past 10 years, Thanksgiving has been a time for Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies/adult supporters to gather and share their voices, insights, talents, abilities and goals for the future. Join ACTION and OACCA at one of four regional early Thanksgiving dinners in November. Current foster care youth ages 14+ and former foster youth ages 18+ are welcome.
Review the dates and locations
, and then register
online
. Registration is free but required. Public and private foster care agencies and foster parents are encouraged to transport young people so that they may attend.
ACTION Ohio is seeking sponsorship for these regional Thanksgiving dinners. Donations can be sent to:
OACCA
ATTN: Foster Care Thanksgiving
2600 Corporate Exchange Drive, Suite 180
Columbus, OH 43231
PREP fact sheets available
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) funds evidence-based interventions dedicated to educating adolescents on both abstinence and contraception to prevent pregnancy and STIs. PREP also educates youth on adulthood preparation topics such as healthy relationships, parent-child communication, and financial literacy. The National Campaign is pleased to present two new fact sheets on PREP:
Upcoming Safe and Together Core Training
Family and Youth Law Center will present a series of four trainings on domestic violence for CPS workers Oct 24, Nov. 3, Nov. 15 and Nov. 29 at the Central Ohio Regional Training Center. Safe and Together is a child welfare-based model for addressing domestic violence developed by family safety experts at David Mandel & Associates—now the Safe and Together Institute. The model focuses on perpetrators’ patterns of behaviors, non-offending parents’ protective capacities, and the impact of domestic violence on children. Each day is approved for 5.5 CEUs, and the first two days fulfill state domestic violence training requirements. Register
here
.
2017 Annual NASW Conference: Social Workers Stand Up
The National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Chapter, is hosting a conference Nov. 16-18 with internationally recognized keynote speakers and 35+ workshops ranging from "
The fundamentals of theory, intervention, and treatment of suicidal clients"
to "
Advanced Generalist: Making your way in macro practice"
to
"
Moms & Methadone
."
NASW is
o
ffering 18 CEUs (including ethics and supervision) for social workers, counselor, and chemical dependency licensees. To see the full list of workshops, click
here
. Register
here
!
Current status of state planning for the future of CHIP
As of Sept. 30, Congress has failed to reauthorize funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), leaving many states uncertain how to proceed if the program's funding isn't reauthorized soon. Ohio is one of 11 states that expects to exhaust current federal funds before the end of this year, as the linked graphic from Kaiser Family Foundation shows. Read more
here
.
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Child Protection in the News
"Wayne County has 62 licensed foster homes," said Suzanne Greenberg, a recruiter for Wayne County Children's Services. "Of the houses that we have available, the majority of them are at capacity." Greenberg explained that there is a delicate balance between finding families and matching them up with children in need, especially those with siblings.
The increase in need for foster families has been spurred by the opioid crisis, but the need for caseworkers is also on the rise.
Andrea Whitt fights back tears when she recalls the experience of caring for a newborn baby who tested positive for drugs.
One of the unintended consequences of the opioid crisis is the children of addicts who have to be placed in the foster care system.
"It would be nice to say that we're near a plateau, but I don't think so,'' said Scott Britton, the deputy director of the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio. "We just keep seeing the numbers going up and up.''
The opioid epidemic has put a heavy burden in counties all across Ohio, causing an unprecedented number of children to be ruled wards of the state.
The number of Ohio infants who died before their first birthday ticked up from 1,005 in 2015 to 1,024 in 2016, according to new infant mortality data released by the Ohio Department of Health.
"Strong efforts (are) made by JFS to place children in care with relatives or family members with the intent to unify them with their parents once (the) home is safe. Some parents receive and complete substance abuse treatment and fight for children to return home while others find it too difficult to battle their addiction to gain custody of their children," Nolan said.
The foster care and adoption division at The Marsh Foundation continues to grow in order to meet the increasing number of children in care. Part of that growth is the hiring of a new consultant and licensing specialist: Breanna Zipfel, LSW.
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Oct. 18 | Ohio START Steering Committee Meeting
Oct. 18 | Southwest District Meeting
Oct. 19 | Northwest District Meeting
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"In serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity."
– C
arol Bellamy
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Public Children Services Association of Ohio | 614-224-5802 |
www.pcsao.org
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