COLUMBUS, Ohio – An innovative program that helps heal Ohio families torn apart by addiction is expanding once again.

The Public Children Services Association of Ohio oversees the Ohio START program; START stands for "Sobriety, Treatment, and Reducing Trauma."

It was launched in 2017 to tackle the rising number of kids in need of foster care. According to Program Director Fawn Gadel, the program focuses on both the parents' and child's trauma.

"We take a holistic approach to treating the family for the issues that have come to arise because of the parents substance use disorder, which really is a game-changer," Gadel said.

Family Peer Mentors make up a key aspect of the program, as people who have personal experience with addiction and children's services, and are now in long-term recovery.

As a Family Peer Mentor in Pickaway County, Sarah Rapp knows that she offers a unique perspective on how addiction drives behaviors and decisions.

"It doesn't mean that they don't love their kids, it doesn't mean that they don't want to change," Rapp said, "but how to do it, and how not to judge them so hard to where they just want to give up."

Ohio START is expanding to 14 more counties, bringing the number to 46. State leaders expect to expand the program to a total of 62 counties in the next two years.

As state attorney general, Gov. Mike Dewine helped bring the program to Ohio, and continues to support and fund its expansion.

Gadel said getting parents into treatment quickly is the first step on the road to recovery.

"We strike while the iron's hot, giving the parent the most amount of time that they can have to get those recovery services underway," she explained, "and continuing on until they are healthy, and a safe option for those kids, is really making a difference."

Rapp added that she's looking forward to mentoring more people as her first client graduates from the program.

"It just means a lot when you can help somebody make a total change in their lives," Rapp said. "She has her kid back, she has a job, she's getting housing. She's really doing good."

Ohio START has served nearly 900 adults and 390 children since 2017. The program receives a national award today (Wednesday) from the Addiction Policy Forum at a ceremony at the Statehouse.

The number of foster youths near adulthood has dropped slightly in Washington state, according to a new report.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation looked at the transition period for young adults in foster care and found the number of young Washingtonians age 14 and up dropped from 23% in 2006 to 22% in 2021.

Neveah Brewer was part of the foster-care system, and now coaches foster youths who are transitioning into adulthood as a launch success coach with the Washington state-based organization Treehouse.

She said leaving the system is often the first time foster youths have anything of their own.

"In foster care, you don't even have your own bed, and the clothes that you get often are hand-me-downs," said Brewer. "So this is the first time being on your own completely and having everything and nothing all at the same time."

Brewer and Treehouse provide guidance for people in or coming out of foster care, including helping them find housing and get jobs.

Todd Lloyd, a senior policy associate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said youths are going to foster care for different reasons than they did in 2006.

"In the past, young people were coming in for foster care for reasons of adolescent behavior, child behavior problems," said Lloyd. "But now there's more of a shift towards them entering care for reasons of neglect, which are often connected to issues of poverty."

In 2006, neglect was the entry reason for 21% of Washington kids. In 2021, that number jumped to 57%.

Brewer said the state and federal governments could provide more resources to young adults coming out of foster care, including extended scholarships for higher education.

Just as important are some of the skills she's able to provide that they may not have received growing up, such as budgeting.

"Not in the sense of, like, 'Put away this amount of money every paycheck' because that's a privilege, but more in the sense of financial literacy and empowerment and understanding where they are and how to get where they want to be," said Brewer. "As well as understanding that it's OK to not be OK."

A new report found Black girls across the Keystone State are subjected to "daunting educational barriers" in K-12 public schools and offers recommendations to make the school system more inclusive.

The report detailed barriers with curriculum, dress codes, anti-Black racism, sexism and other issues.

Paige Joki, staff attorney for the Education Law Center-Pennsylvania and leader of the Black Girls Education Justice Initiative, said the purpose of the report was to hear the concerns of Black girls, because their voices were missing from conversations.

She reported students advised them they were exposed to harmful curriculum, and one of the girls' recommendations for public schools is to implement a culturally responsive and affirming curriculum.

"Black girls shared with us that the ways that they were being taught about their history and experiences was traumatic, nonresponsive, and erased experiences of those who are part of their community or have shared identities," Joki reported. "Girls spoke to subjects being handled carelessly, like American slavery."

Another recommendation in the report called for police to be removed from schools. Joki pointed out Black children disproportionately attend schools where police are present, and many of the Black girls they spoke with felt police in their schools created a climate of fear and made them unsafe.

Joki noted a recommendation from Black girls in the report said schools must provide culturally affirming mental health support and increase the number of school-based mental health providers.

"Black girls shared with us that there were not enough counselors at their school or any at all, that the focus was mainly on academics, rather than on supporting their well-being," Joki explained. "They greatly benefited from working with Black mental health support professionals who shared identities and experiences and would allow them to speak freely."

Talia, a high school senior, participated in the focus group discussion and said she is a strong believer in schools needing culturally affirming mental health support. She added being a grown adult and Black femme nonbinary, sometimes life gets stressful, and she would like to see more mental-health support at school.

"However, not just any mental health support," Talia stressed. "I would like there to be people who understand my experience and share an identity with me. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable and heard when we have similar backgrounds. It feels nice to have a Black role model at school, especially since my school is majority Black. And I feel like most of us would agree we need more Black supporters."

Joki emphasized while the report detailed many harmful things, the girls were able to envision more just spaces for their education. She added the girls loved working with people who looked like them and several girls had a beautiful positive story about a teacher who changed their education trajectory and remains in their life.

The number of Wyoming children in foster care between the ages of 14 and 21 has dropped by 54% over the past two decades, according to a new Annie E. Casey Foundation report, but many kids who age out of the system continue to face significant challenges.

Debra Hibbard, policy and program manager for the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said getting a college degree or credential can help kids land on their feet. The state currently offers educational training vouchers worth $5,000 for education expenses.

"And that can be like a training program like Wyotech, the university, junior colleges," Hibbard outlined. "We also provide them with laptops, bedding, towels, just some of those independent living needs that they might have."

The department convened a youth advisory council made up of kids currently in the system and those who have transitioned out, which has been meeting monthly over the past two years to identify challenges and craft solutions.

Hibbard pointed out one of the biggest needs is for families willing to open their doors to older kids, and she encourages anyone interested to call the department at 307-777-3570.

Todd Lloyd, senior policy associate for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said the reasons older youth enter foster care have shifted. Wyoming saw a 62% drop in the number of kids put into foster care for behavioral issues, and one in three kids now enter the system due to neglect.

"In the past, young people were coming in for foster care for reasons of adolescent behavior, child behavior problems," Lloyd recounted. "But now, there's more of a shift towards them entering care for reasons of neglect, which are often connected to issues of poverty."

Older kids placed with a family relative, as opposed to institutions or group homes, tend to have better outcomes, and Wyoming has seen a 67% increase in the number of kids placed with family since 2006.

Hibbard added older foster youths are great kids, and are deserving of a home even if they are not kin.

"Someone who can be there for them and advocate for them," Hibbard explained. "Someone who when they do age out of the foster care system, that they have someone that they can come home to for the holidays, come home and do laundry. Just to talk to when they're struggling at school."