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A quick rundown of Ohio child protection news this week
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Weekly Update for June 29, 2020
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Updates from Gov. DeWine
The governor did not have any reopening announcements this week. He indicated he wanted to have information on nursing home visitation and guidelines for Ohio K-12 schools to reopen within a week, adding that whatever guidelines they develop for schools will provide a great deal of flexibility. Other updates included:
- Gov. DeWine invited President and CEO of UC Health Richard P. Lofgren, MD, MPH, FACP to give an update on the status of COVID-19 in Hamilton County and the surrounding areas, which have seen a high level of cases in the past 10 days. Dr. Lofgren explained that the increase shows COVID-19 is spreading in the community. He said it serves as a reminder about the importance of wearing a mask in public, washing your hands, sanitizing frequently touched surfaces, and keeping social distance.
- Gov. DeWine announced today that the Ohio Department of Health will continue funding for the valuable 2-1-1 phone service that connects thousands of Ohioans to local non-profit and government services for healthcare, food and meals, housing, transportation, mental health, and legal services.
- The state will continue hosting pop-up testing sites this week.
PCSAO continues to follow the COVID-19 situation closely and interact with state officials and community partners to ensure that county agencies are well represented and receive clear information. For the latest information from the state, visit the
coronavirus.ohio.gov
page.
PCSAO executive membership meeting goes virtual
PCSAO held its first ever virtual executive membership meeting June 25. LeeAnne Cornyn, director of Gov. DeWine’s Office of Children’s Initiatives, opened the meeting and shared the governor’s ongoing commitment to children services. Morning presentations included Cheryl Subler of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio and McKenzie Davis of The Success Group about the budget impact of the pandemic in Ohio; and Maureen Corcoran, director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid, and Jeff Davis, director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, focused on their departments creating new children's behavioral health and developmental placement options. In the afternoon, attendees heard from Kimberly Hall, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, about children services transformation and recovery efforts; and from Chip Spinning and Kelly Knight of Franklin County Children Services and Dr. Michael Cull of the University of Kentucky about safety science. Attendees also learned about PCSAO’s modernization recommendations, heard association updates, and expressed their appreciation to board president Kathi Spirk, who was chairing her final executive membership meeting as she is retiring Aug. 1.
The next executive membership meeting is December 3-4 and is scheduled to be in person.
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Nominations due tomorrow!
Thousands of children and youth served by Ohio's child protection system have done wonderful things with their lives. Many have broken generational abuse cycles to become supportive, nurturing parents. Others have gone on to jobs or college, and some have even become foster parents. Many have contributed to their communities in meaningful ways. Do you know young people who fit that description?
Nominate them for our Rising Up and Moving On Award.
PCSAO wants to recognize families who stand out within the children services system, including
birth families who have stayed together or been reunified, as well as kinship, foster, or adoptive families who opened their homes. Do you know families whose accomplishments and hard work deserve recognition?
Nominate them for Family of the Year
.
Each year, PCSAO also recognizes the achievement of professionals who serve Ohio’s public children services agencies. Do you know a child protection caseworker, support staff, or supervisor whose accomplishments and hard work deserve recognition?
Nominate a staff member here
. Nominations are due June 30.
Save the date!
We are planning to move our conference to a virtual format for two days, Sept. 16-17. Mark your calendar and look for more details this summer!
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Pre-Clearance: As of June 19, there are no children services-related rules in pre-clearance.
Clearance: As of June 19, there are no children services-related rules in clearance.
Filed with JCARR: The following rules were final-filed on June 25 with an effective date of July 5:
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Announcements and Resources
CSSP offers webinar on anti-racist framework
The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) will offer a webinar on “Applying CSSP’s Anti-racist Intersectional Frame to Our Work” on July 9 from 3-4 p.m. The webinar will explain the framework and explore its application to CSSP’s “Strengthening Families” work and other projects related to young children and their families. It will also look at how to apply the framework in programs, communities, and systems.
Register here
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Summer Adoption Law Institute July 27-31
Capital University Law School and the Family & Youth Law Center are offering the "Summer Adoption Law Institute (SALI)," an intensive week-long law school course exploring adoption and related child protection issues July 27-31 from 8 a.m.- 1:10 p.m. each day. Professor Megan Heydlauff, Esq. will teach the class. The course content will include types of adoption, parties to adoption, adoption process and procedure, confidentiality and records in adoption, the history of adoption law and child welfare law in the United States, Constitutional rights in the family context, the Indian Child Welfare Act, race and sexual orientation issues in adoption, interstate dimensions of adoption, assisted reproductive technologies, and wrongful adoptions. The cost is $100 and up to 23 CLE credits are available.
Register here
or email
Sali@law.capital.edu
with questions.
Cincinnati Children’s to offer Pediatric Mental Health Symposium Sept. 21
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is offering a virtual one-day symposium on Sept. 21 for health care and community providers held to raise awareness of current mental health trends and their impact. Previous topics have included anxiety, depression, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and ADHD.
Find more information here.
CDC and Children’s Bureau offer webinar recording on child welfare worker safety
The Children’s Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control held a webinar June 11 on “Child Welfare Worker Safety in the Time of COVID: CDC Recommendations for In-Person Interactions with Families.”
You can access the materials here.
OCWTP updates core training with new resources on equity and inclusion
For caseworkers throughout the state, newly revised Caseworker Core Modules 1, 7 and 8 address important aspects of diversity competence and cultural humility in new ways to deepen understanding and application as they begin their work with families.
- In Caseworker Core Module 1, caseworkers learn foundational concepts of meeting all families where they are to work effectively toward safety, permanency and sellbeing. Participants go through an in-depth investigation into their own diversity, concepts of diversity, self-awareness, individual identity, and implicit bias to better understand and prepare for their work. CARE Cards are introduced as a new tool to help caseworkers: Check their bias, Acknowledge difficult feelings, Respect, and Effectively communicate at every contact. The CARE Cards are given out as business cards for the caseworker to use as a conversation starter with families on respectful behavioral expectations, or as a reminder every time they approach a family. Explore Caseworker Core Module 1 here or visit the Ohio Practice Profiles link here.
- Caseworker Core Module 8 introduces the practice of BIAS Scans (Based on personal experience/beliefs/values? Impacted by culture? Assumption impacted? Stereotype driven?) and how important they are to fact-based removal and placement decision making when working with families. They explore data on disproportionality, importance of kinship and sibling connections and the why and how of applying least restrictive, closest-to-home interventions with families. They also explore strategies to prevent unnecessary placements or leaving a child in an unsafe situation with the understanding of the dangers of subjective decision making. Finally, they explore the many ways a child’s and caregivers’ diverse background impacts their interactions and experiences with children services removal, placement and reunification interventions. Read more about Caseworker Core Module 8.
- Caseworker Core Module 7 participants explore activities that call attention to cultural differences in child rearing and keeping those difference in mind when considering developmental differences across different cultures. These cultural differences must also be considered when exploring adult and family functioning. People with different backgrounds may define trauma in different ways and use different expressions to describe an experience. Their symptoms may be expressed differently, based on what is culturally acceptable. In addition, people who are members of marginalized groups may find it difficult to access services. Due to the impact of historical or ongoing oppression, some individuals and families may have fewer resources or ongoing social support. Read more about Caseworker Core Module 7.
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Child Protection in the News
Research has shown that children who are at high risk of being mistreated at home -- who live in poverty or have parents who use drugs or have mental health problems -- are more likely to start smoking. Because abused and neglected children are often unsupervised, these teens may have easy access to cigarettes and other substances that they use to deal with anxiety and other trauma-related symptoms.
Dayton Police recently implemented policy changes to address how it conducts child welfare checks in response to the 2019 death of a 10-year-old boy.
The Ottawa County Juvenile Court has been awarded a grant by the Supreme Court of Ohio to receive training and technical assistance from the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice. Court staff and community partners will work with a team from the RFK National Center for the next year to learn research-based techniques and best practices to improve outcomes for dual status youth.
Cuyahoga County Council approved a $3 million settlement to the father of Aniya-Day Garrett during its June 23 meeting.
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Profiles of Hope and Courage: Children Services in the Era of COVID-19
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Ashley: 'It's a passion and a lifestyle choice'
Ashley is an Ohio START caseworker in Trumbull County. She has been with Ohio START for a year and has five years of experience in casework. Ashley is working with 11 families right now, two of whom are new.
PCSAO is collecting stories from the front lines of child protection to raise awareness of the challenges our children services professionals, and the families they serve, are facing during this pandemic. Despite all the changes in their daily lives, they remain hopeful and courageous.
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July 9 | Rules Review Committee Meeting
July 10 | Conference Planning Committee Meeting
Note: Meetings will be held via web meeting or teleconference for the foreseeable future.
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Public Children Services Association of Ohio | 614-224-5802 |
www.pcsao.org
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