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A quick rundown of Ohio child protection news this week
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Weekly Update for April 30, 2018
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Association Updates
Northeast District meets
The PCSAO Northeast District met April 23 and discussed updates from PCSAO related to EDMS, kinship child care program, predictive analytics, Family First Prevention Services Act, Continuum of Care Reform plan, children services policy solutions for gubernatorial candidates, and the metro district. The district shared updates from each of the counties. The district meets next on July 23.
Southeast District meets
Members of the Southeast District met April 23 for a listening session with the ODJFS TAS team, along with discussion of local levies on the ballot, kinship child care, EDMS, and more. Conversation included the need for intensive onboarding of new caseworkers over and above core training. The district meets next on July 23.
New Execs participate in orientation
Nearly 30 new directors, child welfare administrators and other senior staff participated in PCSAO's annual New Executives Orientation April 26-27. Many thanks to the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (and Todd Hollett in particular) for their amazing hospitality, and to all of the trainers from ODJFS, IHS and county agencies who shared their time and expertise.
Executive transitions
Join PCSAO in welcoming Peter Stefaniuk as new director of Ashland County JFS. We also bid farewell to Amy Amburn, Greene County JFS children services administrator, and welcome Lana Penney as her successor.
Rules updates
As of April 27, no children services-related rules are in clearance. The following rules are currently in pre-clearance at
http://www.ohiorulereview.org/
:
- Chapter 5101:2-5 Child Services Agency Licensing rules are open for comments until May 10. These rules will be revised to clarify compliance expectations with applicable statutes.
- Chapter 5101:2-47 Title IV-E Foster Care Maintenance rules are open for comments until May 24. These rules are up for five-year review.
- Chapter 5101:2-48 Adoption rules are open for comments until May 10. These rules will be revised to clarify Child Study Inventory (CSI) requirements.
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Announcements and Resources
2018 CDF-Ohio Advocacy Day
Join the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio May 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Ohio Statehouse Atrium for the 2018 CDF-Ohio Advocacy Day. Child advocacy leaders, providers, young people, and families from across the state will come together to raise awareness about the needs of Ohio’s children and families with state leaders and legislators. Register
here
.
14th Annual Foster Parent Conference
The East Central Ohio Regional Training Center (ECORTC) will hold its 14th Annual Foster Parent Conference June 21-23 at Carlisle Inn Sugarcreek. Mark your calendar! For more information, contact
ECORTC
at 740-432-2355.
PCSA attorney seminar
ODJFS invites all attorneys who represent public children services agencies to this annual free legal seminar June 29 at the Ohio Department of Transportation, Lower Level Auditorium (1980 W. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43223). The seminar is designed for prosecutors, in-house attorneys, and contract attorneys. County attorneys planned this seminar so that it can enhance skills pertinent to legal work and provide a forum for networking with other attorneys who perform similar work. If you did not receive an email with the registration information, contact Marion Crawford at 614-466-4605 or
Marion.crawford@jfs.ohio.gov
.
Addiction Evidence Project
The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released the first in a series of inventories and scorecards analyzing Ohio's policy response to the addiction crisis and outlining areas where the state could be more effective. The report, "
Ohio Addiction Policy Inventory and Scorecard: Prevention, Treatment and Recovery
," provides policymakers and other stakeholders with the information needed to take stock of Ohio's policy response to the crisis by reviewing state-level policy changes enacted in Ohio from 2013-2017. The report, which is part of HPIO’s
Addiction Evidence Project
, focuses on the first three elements of a comprehensive policy response to addiction: prevention, treatment and recovery. HPIO plans to develop similar inventories and scorecards for other key elements, such as overdose reversal and criminal justice, in 2018 and 2019.
Learn more
.
Ohio among collaborative community court teams sites
The National Quality Improvement Center for Collaborative Community Court Teams (QIC-CCCT) has announced the selection of 15 demonstration sites. There are three agencies from Ohio that have been selected: Coshocton County Probate and Juvenile Court, Fairfield County Juvenile and Probate Court, and Trumbull County Family Court. With the assistance of dedicated Training and Technical Assistance Change Teams, these demonstration sites will design, implement and test new and innovative approaches that meet the requirements of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and that better meet the needs of infants and families. Click for
more information
.
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Child Protection in the News
The heroin epidemic is putting hundreds of children in Hamilton County in foster care this year. More and more children are staying in foster care for longer periods of time while parents stand before judges due to drugs.
Nearly one in three Ohio adults has a loved one suffering from problems as the result of using prescription pain medication, according to data from the 2017 Ohio Health Issues Poll. A new report examines the scope of addiction in Ohio, and the areas that need to be addressed to combat the problem. Comments from Amy Bush Stevens, vice president for Prevention and Public Health Policy, Health Policy Institute of Ohio.
Robin Reese hopes a year will come when Lucas County Children Services celebrates not a single child dying from abuse, neglect, or violence.
"The state recently allocated an additional $15 million to foster-care placement funds to meet some of this need, though PCSAO (the Public Children Services Association of Ohio) estimates that costs have increased by as much as $45 million in the last year alone."
The opioid epidemic continues to hit central Ohio hard. According to a map by created by the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and the Centers for Disease Control in 2016, two central Ohio counties, Franklin and Licking, are said to have both high overdose deaths and high number of children entering into foster care and those numbers continue to rise.
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May 2 | Board of Trustees Meeting
May 3 | Rules Review Committee Meeting
May 4 | Community Education Committee Meeting
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“It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” –
Chinese Proverb
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Public Children Services Association of Ohio | 614-224-5802 |
www.pcsao.org
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