In 2020, all Ohio child care providers will have to meet new quality guidelines. WCPO reports on how they are getting ready.
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On this Giving Tuesday, HCJFS has a way to help foster children make college visits, provide toiletries or toys to abused children and aid low-income families with needs beyond job assistance, food and medical care.
Hamilton County Job and Family Services now has a way to help foster children make college visits, provide toiletries or toys to abused children and aid low-income families with needs beyond job assistance, food and medical care.
Hamilton County’s Board of County Commissioners recently approved the FAMILY (Friends and Advocates Making Investments in Local Youth) Fund to help the agency cover expenses that are either not permitted under state and federal programs financed by taxpayer contributions or for which there are limited funds.
College visits help foster children choose their future.
For example, the agency might not have funds to cover a foster child’s expenses to participate in an after-school sport, wear a cap and gown to graduation or take a trip to visit a college. If that child graduates and finds a good job, that agency cannot help pay for a car or car insurance to see that he or she makes it to that job.
Now, the FAMILY Fund gives local residents a way to make tax-free donations to assist in paying for these types of expenses.
“I think everyone would agree these types of expenses are important and integral to any child having a normal experience in life,” said Hamilton County Commissioner Chris Monzel. “These children come from tough situations; we want to make their lives easier, not harder. We have found a way to help without adding to the taxpayer burden.”
JFS has traditionally declined monetary donations because it is a government agency, but has informally accepted other types of donations, such as toys at the holidays or gift cards for foster children who graduate. The FAMILY Fund now allows the agency to accept cash donations.
Similar capabilities exist in other counties.For example, Montgomery County has FLOC (For the Love of Children) and Franklin County has a Citizens Advisory Committee’s Children’s Fund.
A board of community members will oversee the fund, following bylaws that have been established to be compliant with state law.
“JFS frequently receives inquiries from members of the public as to how they might help some of the families and children served by our agency,” said Moira Weir, director of JFS. “Whether it be a family in need during the holidays or a foster child attempting to make the transition to adulthood, there are many good people who would like the option of making donations. We are excited they now have that option. It will open up new doors for our children.”
To make a donation today, click the button or send to FAMILY Fund, c/o Brian Gregg, 222 E. Central Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
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Hamilton County’s Job and Family Services Planning Committee will hold its next scheduled meeting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 30, at 222 E. Central Parkway, Room 6SE701.
The meeting of community stakeholders is open to the public.
The post JFS Planning Committee meets Friday appeared first on Hamilton County Job & Family Services.
SafeCare is a great program that helps parents of young children who are at risk for child abuse or neglect or have been reported for it.
The Hamilton County SafeCare Collaborative is a partnership of Job and Family Services, Every Child Succeeds and the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati. The program sends trained providers into families’ homes, where they help with home safety, child health and the interactions between the parents and children. The providers teach how to manage a child’s difficult behaviors, how to make homes safer and how to keep children healthy and less at risk for illness or injury. SafeCare is for families with children up to the age of 5.
Studies have found that the program boosts parents’ skills while reducing parental depression and reducing the likelihood of child maltreatment reports. Trainers spend several weeks in the home, teaching and reinforcing things like how to properly engage children in activities and role-playing what to do in various health emergencies.
Our local team recently earned its accreditation from the National SafeCare Training and Research Center, part of the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. The center was established in 2007 with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Duke was a tobacco heiress who devoted much of her life and fortune to medical research and prevention of cruelty to children and animals. SafeCare has spread internationally to six countries.
We congratulate our local SafeCare team members – Tiffany Hensley, Debi Schneider, Angela Kuper, Tracie Lindstrom, Christine Barlion and Phyliss Flanagan-Cox – for all their hard work and dedication to this program.
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HCJFS employee Neil Kelly has been hit by three cars in 10 months. He’d prefer not to be.
On October 21, 2017, Neil Kelly posted this picture of himself on Facebook, detailing the crash and his injuries. “I write this not to get sympathy,” he wrote, “but as a warning. When you are turning right on a red light – or anywhere, for that matter – you must look all around you, even down. I got very lucky considering all possible outcomes. The next time it happens, I may not be so lucky. I don’t want you to be that driver.”
Read his story in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
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We are open regular hours on Wednesday, Nov. 21. We will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 22 and 23. We will reopen at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 26.
The post Offices closed Thursday and Friday appeared first on Hamilton County Job & Family Services.
This new video helps explain how to apply for assistance.
The post Applying for Benefits? Check out the Ohio Benefits Self-Service Portal Tutorial. appeared first on Hamilton County Job & Family Services.
As mandated by the State of Ohio, Family Child Care Providers must be Step Up to Quality rated by 2020 to continue serving children who receive publicly funded child care benefits.
Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) is a five-star quality rating and improvement system administered by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. SUTQ recognizes and promotes learning and development programs that meet quality program standards that exceed licensing health and safety regulations. The program standards are based on national research identifying standards which lead to improved outcomes for children.
The post New program aims to improve child care quality appeared first on Hamilton County Job & Family Services.
Director Moira Weir was honored this past weekend to pick up an award for our Children’s Services section.
The Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers selected HCJFS as the best of all public and private agencies in an 11-county area. NASW is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world.
The job of a social worker can be tough. Dealing with families at tough points in their lives can be so challenging and can take a toll on your emotions. So we appreciate this recognition of our workers’ diligence.
“We are thrilled to have the hard work and dedication of our employees recognized in this fashion,” Weir said. “Just as with our recent timeliness award in processing food applications, it is refreshing when professionals outside of our organization validate the great work we are doing. I am proud and grateful that JFS employees are extremely committed to helping Hamilton County’s children and families.”
The post Children’s Services staff recognized appeared first on Hamilton County Job & Family Services.
We had a great day Friday in Judge Ted Winkler’s courtroom – 13 children in foster care officially joined their adoptive families.
The courtroom was full of reporters and photographers, documenting each of the nine separate ceremonies. Parents cried. The judge thanked them for the wonderful impact their decisions to adopt will have on the world.
See more pictures here.
The post Adoption Day was a great day for families appeared first on Hamilton County Job & Family Services.
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