COLUMBUS, Ohio - More progress is needed in Ohio to increase family placements for children in the foster-care system, a new report reveals.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 85% of Ohio kids who need to be separated from their parents are staying with a foster family or relative, a slight increase from 10 years ago. However, the report shows 40% of Ohio teens in the foster-care system are placed in a group setting, compared with 31% in 2007.

Tracy Najera, executive director of the Children's Defense Fund-Ohio, said state leaders have an opportunity to increase supports for family placements.

"Gov. Mike DeWine has committed to doubling the state's investments in children's services in the upcoming state budget," she said. "Part of this commitment includes about $8.5 million to recruit foster families and support kin providers. We have to make sure that the Legislature is supportive of this level of funding as well."

Nearly 15,000 children are in Ohio's foster-care system. Nationally, there's been a 5-percentage-point increase in the number of children placed in foster families in the past decade.

In some cases, said Rob Geen, director of policy and advocacy reform for the Casey Foundation, group placements are necessary because of a medical or behavioral health need. However, he said, it can compound the trauma experienced when kids are separated from their biological parents.

"If a child needs a therapeutic intervention that is not appropriate in a family setting, of course we want them to have very high-quality residential care," he said. "But the point of that is for them to then succeed in a family, later on."

Without a stable family environment, Najera said, foster youths are more likely to experience homelessness, unemployment and early parenthood.

"Ohio has some of the worst outcomes when it comes to foster youths who age out of the system," she said, "and we need to use every tool in our toolbox to reverse that trend and to make sure that all our children and our foster youths have bright futures and can successfully transition into adulthood."

She said a new federal law, the Family First Prevention Services Act, provides opportunities for states to ensure that children are in homes that best address their needs, and that their caregivers are supported.

The report is online at aecf.org.


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AUSTIN, Texas - Countless children who are victims of human trafficking are getting help through a new grant program in Texas.

A bill passed by the Texas Legislature and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott is allowing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to administer funds to help address the high need for emergency shelters and treatment programs.

Sandy Hennip, executive director of Unbound North Texas, said the state ranks second in the nation for the most cases of human trafficking, with most young people enticed via social media.

"A lot of how young men and women get pulled into trafficking is what they would call a 'grooming' process, where they kind of get lured in," she said, "and then - even though they're physically free to leave - emotionally, socially, psychologically, they're bound."

A 2016 report by the University of Texas at Austin found about 80,000 young people were identified among the more than 300,000 sex and labor trafficking victims in the state.

Hennip said the common profile among trafficked youths includes developmental trauma, abuse and neglect. Until recently, she noted, the Dallas/Fort Worth area has been without a 24/7 drop-in shelter to support at-risk youths.

"And we know that youth that are homeless, runaway - they're at a heightened vulnerability to being trafficked. And so, we just opened our youth drop-in center in Tarrant County this last October."

Unbound North Texas will host an outreach event, called "Not In My City," on Saturday in Dallas.

Hennip said the average American may not know how much child trafficking goes on in Texas or other parts of the United States because movies often depict it as an international problem.

"What we see here is much more domestic trafficking," she said. "So, there's easy access and flow of people, if you will, which sounds awful - but in trafficking, people are commodities."

In addition to shelters, the new state grant program will help facilities provide mental and behavioral health services, immediate trauma support, medical care and referrals and legal advocacy.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - September is Kinship Care Awareness Month and, in Ohio, advocates for family caregivers say they'd benefit from more assistance from the state and local governments.

Kinship caregivers are relatives or close family friends who step in to help raise a child when parents are no longer able to do so. In Ohio, about 100,000 grandparents currently are raising their grandchildren. Research has shown kinship care can be a more positive and stable relationship for young people than being in the foster-care system.

Dot Erickson-Anderson, a volunteer with the Ohio Family Care Association, said she wants to see more financial support for family kinship in Ohio, "so, just being conscious at the local level that we build more support structures for families, and that we look at at families not as a nuclear base, but as this extended family base, so that we can offer the support."

Earlier this year, Ohio created a stipend program for kinship caregivers in families who have open cases with child welfare to receive about $10 a day for six to nine months, which some advocates have said is still too low.

Rena and Tony Craver are foster parents living in Clermont County. Since 2004, they've cared for 26 children placed in their home. When the situation is safe, they've worked with kids to help them transition into being reunited with family members. Rena Craver said kinship connections for foster youths are important because they help kids build trust.

"What message we're sending is, is that your family is important to you, and therefore, it's important to us, and we're going to support you in any way that we can," she said. "Whether they go to live with a family member or do some form of kinship, we need to have more empathy for our kids and understand where they're coming from."

The Cravers will be recognized next week as one of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio's Families of the Year.

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- As New York schools gear up for the fall term, physical and mental well-being of kids in grades K-12 is in the forefront, especially with all in-person instruction returning for many this month.

Dr. Rhonda Randall, chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare Employer and Individual, offered tips for supporting children's mental well-being, and said while some young people are excited to get back into the classroom, for others it is a stressful time.

She noted parents and guardians should listen and watch kids for emotional changes.

"It can be changes in mood, changes in sleep patterns, changes in appetites, changes in their academic performance," Randall outlined. "And not being afraid to pick up on that early and have a conversation with your child and just ask some open-ended questions."

The New York State Education Department is advising schools to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice, which recommends schools require universal indoor masking, regardless of vaccination status.

For many, stress doesn't disappear with precautions in place. Randall encouraged parents to validate their kids' feelings, and establish a routine, with good sleep and nutrition.

A recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 25% of high school students have experienced worsening emotional health since the pandemic began.

Gregory Wallace, president of the Riverhead Central Faculty Association in Long Island, said young people in his district were no exception to mental-health challenges.

"Some students outwardly were struggling, and there's a lot of people that just struggle in silence, because they don't speak up, or at their age, they're unable to advocate for themselves, that it's OK to not be OK," Wallace observed.

He is hopeful the addition of seven psychologists, four social workers and three guidance counselors to the district this fall will help all students in need, after a previous restructuring left the department understaffed.

Randall echoed the importance of professional help, adding kids who seem to be struggling can also see their pediatrician to create an action plan.

"They have known your child for many years and have that history with them," Randall pointed out. "They're a good place to start and can be a place where you can get your initial screening if you're concerned that there may be something more significant, like anxiety or depression."

She also emphasized the importance of discussions with kids about being flexible with school, since the pandemic will likely bring more contact tracing, quarantine and online classes.