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A quick rundown of Ohio child protection news this week
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Weekly Update for January 13, 2020
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Association Updates
Board of Trustees meets
The PCSAO Board of Trustees held its first meeting of the year on Jan. 8 and welcomed a new Trustee from the Southeast District, Amy Frame, Director, Perry County CSB. The Board reviewed and approved the December meeting minutes and November financial report, and revised procedures for the financial manual. PCSAO’s new operations manager, Lisa Fry, was introduced. Trustees discussed agenda topics for the Mar. 5-6 Executive Membership Meeting, updates pertaining to PCSAO priorities, legislative issues, and rules updates. The Board will meet next on Feb. 5.
Meet Lisa Hall
Lisa Hall has joined PCSAO as operations manager. Lisa will manage the association's and Ohio START finances, support human resources and related policy, and manage the office.
Learn more about Lisa
.
Columbus State Scholar Network hosts pre-forum dinner
Thank you to the incredible students and staff of Columbus State Community College's Scholar Network (CSSN) for hosting a dinner Jan. 6 prior to the Governor's Forum for Foster Care. CSSN supports former foster youth in their postsecondary education. The dinner gave PCSAO and other community organizations and Children Services Transformation Advisory Council members an opportunity to hear directly from the foster alums about their needs and recommendations. The Columbus forum marked the eighth of ten statewide forums, with the ninth held in Cincinnati Jan. 8 and the final forum in Cleveland tonight.
Rules Review Committee meets
The PCSAO Rules Committee met via teleconference on Jan. 9. ODJFS policy staff joined the call to discuss 5101:2-5-09, Personnel and prohibited convictions for employment and next steps for revising 5101:2-33-21, Confidentiality and dissemination of child welfare information. The committee next meets on Feb. 6.
Rules updates
Pre-Clearance: As of Jan. 10, no children services -related rules are in pre-clearance.
Clearance: 8393 Protective Supervision and PCPA Case Plan Requirement is posted through Jan. 14. 5101:2-38-02, Protective supervision by PCSAs, 5101:2-38-03, Protective supervision by PCPAs, and 5101:2-38-06, Required contents of a PCPA case plan document are being reviewed from the five-year review. The proposed changes are minor, including removal of revision dates for forms that are cited in the rules and grammatical changes. You can review and comment
here
.
Rules filed with JCARR:
- 5101:2-54-01 Multi-system youth: Final-filed 12/20/2019; effective 01/01/2020
- 5101:2-51-01 Administration of the adoption assistance connections to age twenty-one: Final-filed 12/30/2019; effective 02/01/2020
- 5101:2-51-02 Eligibility for the adoption assistance connections to age twenty-one: Final-filed 12/30/2019; effective 02/01/2020
- 5101:2-51-03 Payments for the adoption assistance connections to age twenty-one: Final-filed 12/30/2019; effective 02/01/2020
- 5101:9-6-24 Multi-system youth (MSY) funding: Original-filed 01/07/2020
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Announcements and Resources
HPIO report highlights impact of addiction crisis on criminal justice
The addiction crisis has affected many systems and individuals in Ohio. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) released a report about how this crisis is impacting the criminal justice system, specifically focusing on the strengths, gaps and opportunities for improvement in Ohio. Click
here
for the report. This report will also be discussed through a forum organized by HPIO that will present speakers Vanessa Price and Monica D. Kagey. This forum will be Feb. 26 from 9:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. at The Conference Center at OCLC. The cost of this forum is $65, plus additional fees for CLEs for attorneys and CEUs for social workers. Click
here
to register and get more details about the forum.
Ohio Children's Trust Fund plans prevention month activities for April
April is
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
and the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund staff have developed a campaign and call to action that prompts individuals to "Be a Hero in the Eyes of a Child -- one simple act of encouragement at a time." Help the Trust Fund promote strong communities, healthy families and safe children by participating. Both contests below are open for entries through Feb. 12.
- Artistic Expressions Youth Contest
- Everyday Ohio Heroes Contest
- 2020 Kickoff Event: Ohio Statehouse Atrium, April 2 at 10 a.m. Register for this free event on Eventbrite.
ODJFS fiscal training available
Thank you to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for developing a robust training curriculum on children services fiscal issues. Training sessions are scheduled through the fall, with an excellent response so far. PCSAs can register through the ODJFS innerweb; private agencies and courts can learn more and register on the
SACWIS Knowledge Base
.
Call for Proposals: Seventh Annual Trauma-Informed Care Summit
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Department of Developmental Disabilities are accepting workshop proposals for the Seventh Annual Trauma-Informed Care Summit, scheduled for May 19 and 20. The purpose of the Summit is to move systems beyond trauma informed to trauma competent. Workshops should focus on supporting and building resilience through interactive, experiential and skill-building exercises and discussions. All proposals should reflect and provide culturally appropriate trauma-informed tools, interventions and information on access to services. Click
here
for more information and to submit proposals by the Feb. 14 deadline.
Call for Proposals: Midwest Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Summit
The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Pegs Foundation, and NAMI Ohio, is excited to announce the Midwest Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Summit May 14-15 in Columbus. Proposals are due by Jan. 17. Click
here
to learn more and download the proposal requirements.
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Child Protection in the News
Attorneys representing the caretakers of babies born with opioids in their system asked a federal judge in Cleveland to grant them class-action status against drug companies they believe should pay for some of the long-term care of the children.
The amount of children in foster care is at an all-time high and it’s because of the opioid epidemic. But one program in Fairfield County is trying to change it and keep families together.
Dayton Public Schools employees are writing to Ohio leaders, seeking a change in state law to better protect students who are at risk of child abuse and are removed from school. The letter-writing campaign began over the holidays, after the Dec. 13 death of Takoda Collins. The boy was removed from a Dayton elementary school by his father in May 2018, during the final two weeks of his third-grade year, according to school employees.
“This is the single greatest investment in child welfare in Ohio,” Balconi ... Maybe the most important team is the county children services team, said Lill ...
The details of addiction and poverty have changed many times, but one thing remains true: The damage done to children tends to push the dysfunction and suffering into another generation in a cycle that can be all but impossible to break.
County coroners say Ohio is unlikely to see another large drop in drug deaths in 2019 to rival the precipitous decline seen in 2018.
More than a quarter of the nearly 27,000 children who were removed from their homes last year in Ohio were placed in the care of relatives or other adults deemed "kinship" - coaches, teachers or family friends. From 2010 to 2018, the number of Ohio children placed in kinship homes increased by nearly 140 percent, with a nearly 50 percent surge from 2016 to 2018 alone.
Kent State University's resolution for 2020 is to help children in the foster care system in northeast Ohio realize they can succeed once they age out of the system, usually at age 18 or 21. Eighth-graders who have been placed into foster care and have been affected by the opioid crisis in nine northeast Ohio counties - Portage, Summit, Cuyahoga, Stark, Ashtabula, Tuscarawas, Geauga, Columbiana and Mahoning - will be eligible for First Star - Kent State Academy, which will provide extra support and tutoring so they can be ready to attend college, the military or to get a job after graduating from high school.
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Jan. 15 | Southwest District Meeting
Jan. 16 | Northwest District Meeting
Jan. 17 | East Central District Meeting
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Public Children Services Association of Ohio | 614-224-5802 |
www.pcsao.org
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