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Greetings Friends:
Spring is almost here and with it comes a sense of renewal. Spring is also the time when we at JFS come together to recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. We hope you can join us for two of our events that we will host in April. April 10 will be our Child Abuse Prevention Month Breakfast as well as Wear Blue Day. April 25 will be our annual Circus Night event that offers all families an evening of FREE fun and time together. Make sure to take a look at the articles below on both of these events.
We also want to take time to thank everyone for their support of our recent Holiday Donation Drive. What an amazing community effort that comes together every year to make the holidays special for our children and elderly.
Enjoy the new beginnings that spring offers.
Warmest Regards,
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Big Changes to How Child Support
is Calculated
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Ohio House Bill 366, signed by Governor John Kasich in June of 2018, will streamline and modernize Ohio’s child support orders. Last updated in 1992, Ohio’s child support establishment laws were severely outdated. Some of the major changes associated with Ohio House Bill 366 include updates to the economic tables used to calculate child support, medical insurance order revisions, and the inclusion of mandatory parenting adjustments.
The economic table updates will ensure child support orders are fair and reasonable across all income levels. No longer using economic data from the early 1980’s, the table updates are based on recent economic studies reflecting the current cost to raise a child. Further, the inclusion of a self-sufficiency reserve will make certain that child support orders now consider the amount of money a noncustodial parent must maintain to sustain their own household.
Changes to child support health insurance orders are focused on aligning parental insurance obligations with the responsibilities of the Affordable Care Act, rendering the child support recipient (Obligee) the presumed health insurance responsible party for the minor child/ren of the support order. Additionally, when determining the affordability of private health insurance for the child/ren of the support order, the entire cost of the available health insurance policy will be considered, rather than just the marginal cost associated with the child/ren.
Ohio House Bill 366 also mandates that parenting time will factor into Ohio’s child support orders for the first time. Standard parenting time orders (90 overnights or more) will result in an automatic 10% reduction of the Obligor’s support order amount, with further reductions to be considered based on extended parenting time. Additional changes focus on standardization, as Ohio House Bill 366 includes a cap on allowable child care expenses. The new multiple family calculator provision provides further standardization as it establish
es a standard credit on the child support guideline for the parties’ other children, while no longer considering annual amounts of child support paid or received for said children.
Effective March 28, 2019, Ohio House Bill 366 contains one other noteworthy provision, the ability to repeatedly update the child support economic tables without the need for further legislation, ensuring Ohioans won’t have to wait another twenty-seven years for the next update.
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Kudos to these Fairfield County Job and Family Services staff members who achieved perfect attendance for all of 2018! These employees work in Community Services and their Deputy Director, Laura Holton, treated them to a breakfast at IHop for all their hard work and dedication.
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Since 2007, some of our FCJFS employees wear red every Friday for various reasons as a way to remember their loved ones/honor them. Wear RED on Fridays for Heart Disease, for a loved one you are thinking of, or just do it for fun!
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Thank You for Your Donations
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As we reflect on the 2018 holiday season, we can’t help but smile. We are so grateful for the community support we received during the Protective Services Holiday Donation Drive. Once again with your amazing support and generous donations we were able to fill the wish lists of over 470 children and 22 elderly adults in Fairfield County.
Your partnership and sense of community spirit during the 2018 holiday season is an inspiration to our staff as we strive for child safety and family stability in Fairfield County. The donations of your gifts and your time have touched the lives and hearts of so many. Once again, we sincerely thank you.
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Governor DeWine Names Kristi Burre Director of Office of Child Welfare Transformation
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Please join Fairfield County Protective Services as we extend our congratulations to Kristi Burre for being named the new Director for the Office of Child
Welfare Transformation at ODJFS!
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today named Kristi Burre the Director of the Office of Child Welfare Transformation to lead Ohio’s child protection and foster care reform efforts, a role he created in an executive order he signed moments after being sworn in as governor.
Burre most recently served as the Deputy Director of Protective Services at Fairfield County Job & Family Services. She has worked in the field of child protection for almost 20 years in the capacities of caseworker, supervisor, administrator, trainer, and director. Additionally, she is a trainer for the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program and the Safe & Together Institute. Appointed by the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services to represent Ohio’s public children service agencies, she is currently serving as a member of the Partners for Ohio’s Families Advisory Board. Burre holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Capital University and Master of Arts degree from Ohio University.
The Director of the Office of Child Welfare Transformation will report directly to Director Kimberly Hall of the Department of Job and Family Services, and will lead a nimble policy team focused on improving services to some of Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens, children impacted by abuse and neglect, and children in foster and kinship care.
Shortly after taking office, Governor DeWine signed an executive order to elevate child protection and foster care priorities in the state of Ohio in order to improve and reform the child welfare system. More than 15,000 children were served in out-of-home care at any point in time in 2018, representing more than a 25 percent increase since 2013. One half of children served in out-of-home care were due to parental substance use disorders.
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Community Services Can Help Eligible Families
With Utility Assistance
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Community Services can help eligible families for utility assistance through TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funding. Families can also contact Community Action for HEAP utility assistance until April 1, 2019.
Eligibility requirements include:
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Have a social security number
- Family gross income less than 200% of federal poverty guideline
- Last 30 days income required
- Child in the family under 18 or a full-time student older than 18, who will graduate before the age of 19
- Pregnant woman in her third trimester
- Must have a disconnect notice
- Maximum of $500.00 in utility assistance
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ODOT Rural Consultation Survey
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Rural Consultation is the process by which the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) engages non-metropolitan area local elected officials in the development of the Statewide long-range transportation plan, Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), other planning studies, and project selection and funding processes. ODOT is seeking feedback on this process regarding engagement and involvement of nonmetropolitan area local elected officials. A short survey has been developed to help gauge preferred communication methods.
This survey is live and will be open for 60 calendar days, closing on April 29th. (If you are having trouble viewing some of the questions, try opening it in Google Chrome.) We appreciate your answers as this will help to continually improve communication between ODOT and nonmetropolitan local elected officials.
More information regarding the Rural Consultation Process can be found by
clicking here
.
On behalf of ODOT, we thank you for your time in completing this survey and we look forward to collaborating from the feedback to work towards better engagement and communication. You are welcome to contact Dave Moore, Statewide Planning Manager, at 614 466 0754 or
dave.moore1@dot.ohio.gov
with any questions you have regarding this survey or ODOT’s planning programs.
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When it comes to "Going the Extra Mile" these employees know what it takes! The GEM award is a small token of recognition that our employees can give to their peers, employees, or supervisors to recognize a job well done.
The following are the top 8 GEM recipients for 2018:
Patrick Bookman - Workforce Development
Megan Lemay - Community Services
Amy McCoy - Finance
Terah Murdock - Community Services
JoAnn Sechrest - Community Services
Donna Stalter - Public Relations
Brian Woodruff - Workforce Development
Thank you for your hard work and dedication!
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Every year we host a contest to see who has the best drawing when it comes to promoting awareness for child abuse in our community.
Fifth graders from Saint Mary Elementary School and Saint Bernadette Catholic School participated.
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