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A quick rundown of Ohio child protection news this week
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Weekly Update for July 23, 2018
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Association Updates
2018 PCSAO Conference: Registration is now open!
We’re so excited to announce that registration for the 2018 PCSAO Conference is now open! Join us at the conference Sept. 19-21 in Columbus. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Child Protection Puzzle: Putting All the Pieces Together.” We strongly believe that collaborating and connecting essential components in child welfare are important in training and empowering our child protection workers. The conference will focus on efforts to highlight collective knowledge and best practices in child protection that lead to improving outcomes for children, youth and families. The conference provides a great opportunity to learn, gain important new skills, share knowledge and network with child protection communities.
Don’t miss our special offer for early registration rates; please register by Aug. 17. Download the
conference registration brochure
and then
register online
today!
EDMS – Child welfare "last chance" regional readiness meeting
The Statewide EDMS Child Welfare Project Team is holding one more opportunity to attend a regional meeting to provide PCSAs with the information needed to help guide their upcoming implementation. This "last chance" regional readiness meeting will be Monday, July 30, 9 a.m. – noon at the Vern Riffe Building, 77 S. High Street, Columbus in Room South B & C. During the County Readiness Meeting, the Statewide EDMS Child Welfare Team will supply a demonstration of Traverse, review the project schedule, discuss technical preparedness, provide insight on how to develop your implementation team, and answer questions along the way. Space is limited, so please limit participation to three staff. Please consider bringing an individual from your executive leadership team, child welfare administrative team and an IT representative. To register, email
Jennifer Taft Young
, County Readiness Coordinator.
PCSAO offers comments to the HHS Federal Register on FFPSA
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the first federal register guidance related to the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) on June 22. The register focused on decisions related to the development of a clearinghouse of evidence-based practices in accordance with the FFPSA. PCSAO submitted comments to HHS on July 20 which can be viewed
here
. Comments were related to the type of prevention programs and services that should be selected for the clearinghouse, target population of interest, target outcomes, trauma-informed interventions, delivery setting of services, study eligibility criteria, study prioritization criteria, and recommendations of potential candidate programs and services
.
Northwest District meets
The PCSAO Northwest District met on July 19. Northwoods provided an EDMS project update, the group reviewed PCSAO’s Children’s Continuum of Care Reform plan, discussed placement challenges, and considered upcoming Trustee nominations. The district next meets on Oct. 18.
East Central District meets
The East Central District met in Coshocton July 20 with good attendance and a full agenda that included, kinship care, managed care, placement challenges, and much more. Dave Haverfield (Tuscarawas) accepted the district's nomination to serve on the Board of Trustees. The district meets next Oct. 19.
HOPE update
Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services' HOPE (Helping Ohio Parent Effectively) program is proud to announce the hiring of a full-time peer supporter. HOPE has been working in partnership with the neighborhood collaboratives to develop neighborhood-based services for primary parents with children in the system. This is the second collaborative to hire a peer supporter. We hope other collaboratives will follow this lead. Learn more about
Primary Parents
.
Rules update
Clearance: CCN 8199 Changes to definitions impacting IV-B, subpart 2 funds is posted to clearance for a seven-day period through July 25. The packet is a procedure letter regarding changes to two definitions due to the federal Family First Prevention Service Act (FFPSA).
CCN 8198 Procedure Letter regarding AA for children under the age of two is posted to clearance through today. The packet is a procedure letter regarding changes to eligibility of children under two for AA due to the federal FFPSA.
You can view and comment on both by clicking
here
.
Pre-Clearance: As of July 20, no rules are posted in pre-clearance.
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Announcements and Resources
PCSA executive transition
Wyandot County JFS has a new child welfare administrator, Stephanie Weaver (Rodney Traxler has accepted a new position within the agency); and AJ Lill has been named as new new deputy director of Adult and Children Protective Services at Erie County JFS (Angel Young is leaving the agency for a new opportunity). Please join us in welcoming both Stephanie and AJ. Thank you to Rodney and Angel for your service to Ohio's children!
Partners’ Summit
The Partners’ Summit will include an overview of the changes in the recently passed SB70, Administrative Process Technical Fixes, and HB366, Child Support Guidelines. Additional topics will include Best Practices in Early Engagement and Drafting, Income Determination for Child Support, and more! Click
here
for the full agenda. The deadline to register for the conference is Aug. 17. Organizers welcome JFS and CSEA staff, judges and magistrates, Legal Aid, private attorneys, and child advocates to attend and be part of the discussion and development of new policies and practices in child support. Hotel reservations must be made by July 27. Please keep in mind the hotel room block will likely sell out before this date. When you call 1-888-864-8055, please use the group event of OSCEA Partners Meeting. (Yes, the acronym is incorrect, but this is how the hotel set up in their system.) Room rate is $159/night. To register for the Partners’ Summit, click
here
.
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Child Protection in the News
Marion County voters would pay more than double what they are used to under a proposed levy that Marion County Children Services says is necessary to keep the lights on.
Cuyahoga County Council members received their first briefing Wednesday on a proposed citizen panel that would advise the Department of Children and Family Services. Members of the Health, Human Services & Aging Committee appeared supportive of the legislation, which would create a 10-person board to provide feedback on the department's operations.
When you're trying to make the best out of a difficult situation, having grandparents raise their grandchildren is much more preferable in many instances than putting children into foster care or temporary placements. Although there are behavioral issues that will come up, especially when parents are not included in the family picture, with the right resources, grandparents can conquer the problem when they can assess the support they need.
Brigid's Path, a $2 million Kettering facility specializing in the treatment of babies experiencing withdrawal, is preparing to celebrate its one-year anniversary. Depending on the opioid used by a mother, a baby's withdrawal will typically begin within the first 48 hours of life but may stretch to 96 hours, said Dr. Stephen Hunter, a neonatologist at Dayton Children's Hospital and Brigid's Path's medical director.
Working within their budget, Sandusky County Court Judges John Kolesar and Mary Beth Fiser are offering to help with rising child placement costs by transferring $150,000 to Sandusky Department of Job and Family Services. The $150,000 will help cover costs the department incurs with placing Sandusky County children in the foster care system.
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Aug. 1 | Board of Trustees Meeting
Aug. 3 | Community Education Committee Meeting
Aug. 6 |
Fostering Pathways to Success Conference
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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” –
Aristotle
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Public Children Services Association of Ohio | 614-224-5802 |
www.pcsao.org
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