Weekly Update: September 7, 2021 |
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Board of Trustees meets
PCSAO’s board met virtually Sept. 1 to approve August meeting minutes and July financial reports and approve the FY22 budget and FY22 membership dues proposal. In light of rising COVID cases, the board capped in-person attendance at the annual conference at 350 to allow for more spacing in workshops and at meals and will strongly encourage mask wearing. The board meets next on Oct. 6.
Treatment foster care workgroup examines hub models
An expanding group of county agency leaders interested in increasing treatment foster care options met Aug. 30. Participants discussed various hub models that show great promise for supporting resource families and youth in care, including the Mockingbird Family Model and Treehouse Foundation Model. Colorado’s treatment foster care action plan and new rates were reviewed, and another discussion covered long-term solutions to residential placement challenges, including intensive family-finding, recognizing the impact of the delay in the launch of OhioRISE.
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Ohio START holds Foundations 4 training
On Sept. 1, Ohio START facilitated the Foundations 4 training for over 60 individuals from cohort 4 counties as well as new staff from cohorts 1-3. This final foundational training supports front-line practice of the START model with the purpose of building on knowledge and supporting the daily work. This training also included strategies focused on cross-system collaboration necessary to deliver comprehensive family-centered services, increased oversight and monitoring, shared decision making, and strategic information sharing.
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PCSAO 2021 Annual Conference |
Register soon!
Registration for PCSAO's 2021 annual conference is now open. We have great workshops lined up for caseworkers, from going to court with confidence to youth depression to preparing for permanency and involving fathers. We also have great content lined up for supervisors and managers, including leading during times of change, building cross-generational work teams, recruiting treatment foster parents, and how safety science applies to child protection. Attendance is capped at 350 this year, so register soon to have your full selection of workshops! Information is available on our conference webpage. View workshop descriptions here. If you have questions, contact Cassandra Freeland.
Thanks to our World Champion Sponsors
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With PCSAO’s annual conference this month, we are working hard to make this a great event and we need your help! As we have done in the past, we are collecting gift baskets from agencies to be raffled off during the conference. These gift baskets will serve to engage attendees and show appreciation for all involved. Most gift baskets feature a theme. No matter what theme you choose, please be sure that your basket is family friendly (no alcohol) and appeals to a wide audience.
For planning purposes, notify Anne Potts at anne@pcsao.org by Friday, Sept. 17 if your agency is interested in providing a gift basket. Baskets can be brought directly to the conference.
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Pre-Clearance: The following rules were open for comments until Sept. 4 (these rules went through the recent ODJFS MORRPH process that concluded on Sept. 2):
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Rule 5101:2-38-01 - Requirements for PCSA family case plan for in-home supportive services without court order.
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Rule 5101:2-38-05 - PCSA family case plan for children in custody or under protective supervision.
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Rule 5101:2-38-07 - PCPA family case plan for children in custody or under court-ordered protective supervision.
The following rules are open for comments until Sept. 10:
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Rule 5101:2-7-08 - Alternative care arrangements.
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Rule 5101:2-5-26 - Procedures for revocation, denial of initial certification or denial of recertification of a foster home certificate.
Clearance: As of Sept. 3, there are no children services-related rules in Clearance.
Filed with JCARR: The following rule was final-filed on Aug. 31 with an effective date of Oct. 1:
The following rules were final-filed on Aug. 31 with an effective date of Sept. 10:
The following rule was original-filed on Aug. 27 with a hearing on Sept. 29:
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Resources and Announcements |
UPP releasesreport
The University Partnership Program (UPP) released its evaluation report last week. UPP was established in 2002 to provide Ohio’s Public Children Services Agencies with educated, trained, and experienced child welfare caseworkers. UPP is part of Ohio’s commitment to improving outcomes for children and families by strengthening its child welfare workforce. Read the full report here. Highlights include:
- 53 graduates in 2020-21
- 66 students enrolled in 2020-21
- 1,039 TOTAL UPP placements (employees and interns)
- 62 counties have at least 1 UPP employee
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Overall, supervisors rated UPP employees approximately 15% higher than non-UPP employees on a 5-point scale.
NCWWI, Children's Bureau offer worker recognition event Sept. 14
As part of Child Welfare Worker Appreciation Week Sept. 13-17, the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute and the Children's Bureau are hosting a one-hour virtual recognition event on Sept. 14 at 3 p.m. This year’s speakers will talk about the ability to positively influence a life's trajectory through the heart, the head, and the hands. They include:
- Ohio native Adrian McLemore with the Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Children's Bureau Commissioner Aysha E. Schomburg
- Vernita Thompson, MSW and Kristy Colvin, MSW from the University of Buffalo
- Sarah Crisafi, MEd. E-RYT, educator and yoga teacher
This event is all about celebrating the people who do so much to empower children, youth, and families facing a variety of life challenges and obstacles. Register here.
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Child Protection in the News |
Code for America launched the bilingual, mobile-friendly tool along with the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. It’s designed to help some families with low or no income get access to the enhanced credits or missing COVID-19 stimulus payments without having to file a full income tax return.
Governor Mike DeWine is ordering flags Tuesday to be lowered to honor the lives lost to overdose. Here in the Miami Valley, Greene County Public Health is holding an overdose awareness event at the library in downtown Fairborn.
In response to passage of a bill designating Aug. 31 as Ohio Overdose Awareness Day back in June, local organizations have planned events for the community on Tuesday, which coincides with an international awareness day.
Overdose deaths in 2020 were at an all-time high in the U.S., and hundreds of people gathered in downtown Dayton on Sunday to help re-energize the community’s efforts in the battle against an unrelenting epidemic of drug misuse.
The number of Ohio adults living with children who sometimes or often do not have enough to eat has dropped sharply since the federal government started distributing new child tax credit payments, according to this newspaper’s analysis of Census survey data.
A new series of stories on the mental health challenges of children and teens is a somewhat familiar topic but with a renewed sense of urgency. The "Kids in Crisis" series shows that children already were in crisis when COVID arrived, and the pandemic has only exacerbated the problem - as has the woeful lack of mental health care for children and young adults.
The national Human Rights Campaign Foundation says it has partnered with six child welfare agencies in Ohio to offer LGBTQ+ support to children in foster care. HRC says one out of every three children in foster care identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, and that these youths report higher rates of mistreatment while in care.
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Calendar and Job Postings |
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Sept. 10 | Conference Committee Meeting
Sept. 20 | Legislative Committee Meeting
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 | PCSAO Annual Conference
Note: Some meetings will be held via web and others in-person.
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Looking for a career in child protection? Or a new position to challenge yourself?
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