Shyanne is a very outgoing young girl. She is noted to be goofy, courteous, and intelligent; she is always on top of her academics!
 She is a cheerleader and likes to listen to
Kidz Bop.
Her favorite TV show is
Vampirina
. She laughs at everything, enjoys outings downtown and being outside.
Shyanne also enjoys shopping and putting outfits together.
She describes herself as respectful, sweet and strong.
Her favorite color is purple and some of her favorite activities include: biking, jumping on trampolines and swinging on a swing set.
When she grows up, she wants to participate in sports.
She would do best in a home where she is the youngest or only child.
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At our annual National Adoption Day ceremonies this year, we will be helping unite 16 children with eight forever families. 
It's usually a day filled with joy and tears, so get your tissues ready and tune in to our popular live stream that morning.
Follow our social media that week for more details.
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Strategy resulting
in a better JFS
It is a new day at Job and Family Services.
Change won't occur overnight, but, make no mistake about it, change is underway. The JFS our staff and our consumers know now is evolving into a stronger, better organization.
 We have three pillars of strategy we are pursuing over the next few years - branding, customer service and equity, diversity and inclusion. These are all aimed at changing the culture of JFS and making it a more inviting, friendly and helpful place for employees and consumers.
While some results of these efforts are already evident or will be coming soon, I stress that culture evolves over time. Successfully changing actions, beliefs and attitudes will take substantial time, effort and resources.
This I can assure you: We are matching strategy to culture. We are studying our strengths and weaknesses with the idea of capitalizing on our strengths and shoring up our weaknesses. We are intent on honoring the strong history JFS has played as a key resource in this community, but we are committed to taking that work to a new level.
What is in it for you?
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Project Lift
invites referrals
Project Lift is not emergency assistance. It's a program that partners with families working towards self-sufficiency and willing to commit to case management for one to three years.
 Project Lift is designed to improve the economic self-sufficiency of families in Hamilton County.
It's a program of the Child Poverty Collaborative that connects people with agencies and uses public funds to remove barriers. To qualify, families must be responsible for a child, be working or on a viable path to employment and have a household income below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Does that sound like someone you work with? If so, please send the client's name and contact info to hamil_projectlift@jfs.ohio.gov. Someone will reach out to them and explain the program.
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Celebrating longevity,
staying power
Hamilton County Job and Family Services has been a proud member of our community since 1947. The agency's diverse group of 850 employees is committed to helping county residents achieve better tomorrows.
It's not uncommon to meet someone who has worked for HCJFS for 20 years, 25 years, 30 years. In fact, we have 30 employees who have worked here more than three decades each.
We're highlighting our longevity and our employees' dedication in a new series we're calling Staying Power. Here's just one example:
 Meet Edwina
Smith,
Eligibility technician, FAA1
How long have you worked here? 13 years. I initially trained as an eligibility technician. Shortly thereafter, I requested a transfer to the clerical unit, where I was able to assist Spanish-speaking consumers who walked in needing assistance. Shortly after that, I was transferred to the call center. I have NEVER liked talking on the phone so I called my baby sister and had her pray with me, agreeing that God would help me find my joy in call center work. By golly, he did. And I fell in love with the work that we do - on the phone!
Why do you stay? I have remained because I love what we stand for. Were it not for health issues, I'd be here forever!
Fun fact: I initially came here to apply for food assistance. I'd lost my job of 20 years, and my counselor at Cincinnati Works referred me.
I applied for a job while waiting for a food stamp card. The rest is history!
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Step Up To Quality
going smoothly
Our work to get child care providers ready for the new Step Up To Quality standards is going really well, thanks to our two employees who are focused on it -
Sonya Bass and
Jessica Ward. 
Their section chief,
Judy Leonard, credits them with taking the lead on this new, important project and making it work. "We got the right people for the job, that's for sure," she said.
Step Up To Quality requires that all child care providers earn at least one star by July 2020. It's a five-star rating system administered by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Its goal is to make sure the child care facilities and preschool programs offered across the state are quality, educational, healthy and safe. The hope is that monitoring the quality will lead to improved outcomes for Ohio kids.
 Of the 367 referrals HCJFS has received since January, 294 have been processed - with few denials. Hamilton County has 615 family child care providers and 415 are already star-rated.
Bass and Ward b
oth credit our partnership with 4C for Children, the designated child care resource and referral agency for Southwest Ohio, the Dayton area and Northern Kentucky, with helping the process go so smoothly. Because of 4C's work with providers, often they are well prepared for the assessment process and ready with their necessary paperwork. Leonard agreed, saying 4C has been terrific.
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St. Joe, Pressley Ridge
chosen to run new
transition program
St. Joseph Orphanage and Pressley Ridge have been chosen to operate an innovative program aimed at helping local foster children transition to adulthood using a youth-centered, trauma-informed approach.
 GreenLight Fund Cincinnati and Hamilton County Job and Family Services have teamed up to bring First Place for Youth to Cincinnati and have chosen St. Joseph and Pressley Ridge through a competitive bidding process. First Place for Youth will provide housing, education and employment services to former foster youth transitioning from the public children's services system. It will serve about 100 young people a year.
The program will officially launch on Jan. 1, 2020.
"Both of these organizations partner with us in other program areas and we are confident their leadership will help make First Place for Youth a success in our community," said Moira Weir, director of Hamilton County Job and Family Services. "We are excited to add this innovative program in our efforts to help young people who too often age out of our system without support."
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