COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Work to reform foster care in Ohio is getting a boost from a new federal law.

The Family First Prevention Services Act will be implemented this fall. It changes how federal dollars for foster care are spent.

Rob Myers, deputy director for Stark County Children Services, explained counties will be partially reimbursed for using evidence-based prevention interventions that prioritize keeping families together.

"In the past, it was kind of 'remove first, plan later,'" Myers observed. "This is shifting that perspective so that we're looking at what level of intervention is necessary."

One of the programs chosen by the state for the federal funding is Ohio START.

Nicole Caldwell, executive director for Guernsey County Children Services which recently joined the program, said her agency provides wraparound services for families struggling with substance abuse.

"We have a lack of detox facilities, residential substance-abuse treatment options and trauma treatment that really focuses on the root of trauma that a lot of the families that we're working with have endured," Caldwell contended.

Counties can also receive funding for mental-health treatment, parenting skills and counseling programs, but they must provide a local funding match for those services.

Stark County is part of a seven-county pilot project starting in April that will test Ohio's system for assessing prevention services ahead of the upcoming funding changes.

Myers confirmed the new funding will build upon their current work.

"This fits in very well with what we're trying to do," Myers remarked. "You always feel like you can do better. I'm hopeful that this will really kick-start us into seeing even more success with leaving kids in their home and reduce the number of kids that have to come into care."

According to the Public Children Services Association, there are concerns counties won't be able to match services once the pilot ends, because placement costs increased by $34 million annually the past two years.

There are measures to support the Family-First Prevention Act and other new programming in the state's proposed biennium budget, but funding for local children's services agencies is flat.

There are calls for local investments to ensure families have the supports they need to stay together.


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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansans ages 16 to 26 who are or have been in the foster-care system now are eligible for one-time payments of at least $750.

They can use the money for basic needs, from rent and utility bills to transportation, groceries and more. The funds come from the federal "Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act."

State officials have estimated that roughly 4,000 young people are eligible, and Amy Webb, chief of community and community engagement at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, urged anyone who qualifies to apply by Aug. 31 at ar.gov/fostercarepayments.

"We know it's been a difficult situation for everyone, but these teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable," she said, "and so this money is really designed to go directly to them, to help them as they make it through the months ahead."

During the pandemic, a national survey of youths who had experienced foster care found 43% were forced to move during the COVID crisis. One in five said they were entirely on their own, lacking family or caseworker support.

Webb said once a young person from foster care applies, the Division of Children and Family Services will verify his or her eligibility and payments will be issued by Sept. 30 to the address supplied on the application.

"Transitioning out of foster care is difficult in the best-case scenario," she said. "It's difficult to experience that trauma of leaving your family, and maybe going back to your family, or aging out of the system without the support of a family."

Webb added that many young people who age out of care don't stay connected with the Division of Children and Family Services, so she said it's crucial to raise awareness that these payments are available. She urged anyone who knows someone who fits the criteria to let them know so they can apply.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Community partnerships in Missouri are working to help young people, either in or aging out of foster care, connect with resources they need to start their independent lives, and the pandemic has brought added financial hardship for many.

DeWayne Bright, Sr., youth advocate for the Local Investment Commission (LINC) in Kansas City, works with the local Chafee Independent Living Initiative. It links young people with life and work skills and job placements, and helps them pay for things like transportation and work attire.

Bright said the pandemic has had a major impact on many of the kids he works with.

"They were working in situations where their hours were cut," Bright explained. "Many of them already had unstable housing situations. It really hit our kids terribly. And so, we're just trying to help them really find some stability."

He added LINC and Chafee Services also help young people access state and federal funds that are available to them, such as helping them fill out financial aid forms, or education and training voucher applications to pay for college.

Robyn Wolfe, director of youth development for the Community Partnership in Rolla, said a big part of the Chafee Independent Living Program is being a voice to help youths advocate for themselves. She added their individual needs may be very different.

"For one, it may be the things related to employment and housing, and aging out," Wolfe noted. "And then for another, it may be soft skills, like I need to learn how to make better decisions and how to control my anger. Then you might have the ones that are very tangible: I want to learn how to do laundry; I want to learn how to cook a healthy meal."

The partnerships also support foster families.

Tom Dugger, executive director of Families and Communities Together in Hannibal, said their donation programs for foster families have items ranging from household goods, clothing and school supplies, to cribs, mattresses and car seats.

"We have a car seat tech, and the car seat tech can make sure that the seat is installed properly in their car," Dugger emphasized. "If they have an old seat, we can do a check on it."

Families and Communities Together, as well as LINC and the Community Partnership in Rolla, are affiliated with the Missouri Family and Community Trust and Missouri KIDS COUNT. All are working to improve outcomes for kids and families in the state.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Children's services leaders in Ohio are reiterating calls for more funding to local agencies.

Specifically, they're asking the Senate Finance Committee for $50 million per year in general revenue funds in the biennium budget to support counties facing additional costs associated with new state and federal system transformation mandates.

Jody Walker, director of the South Central Ohio Job and Family Services, explained the historic investments made in the last biennium budget were crucial to addressing the influx of children in care.

"It's allowed us to continue to meet the needs of the families," said Walker. "But if we want to continue going down that road with making changes to our system, we need continued investment."

Placement costs increased by 9% from 2018 to 2020.

At Coshocton County Job and Family Services, Executive Director Danny Brenneman said two cases account for nearly 40% of their local levy dollars.

"We really are doing what we can with the local resources that we have," said Brenneman. "But the bottom line is, we need help."

Brenneman said the proposed children's services funding focuses squarely on states' cost of new policy changes.

Ohio's new Kinship Support Program is estimated to cost counties more than $23 million per year and the local match needed for the federal Family First Act could range from $18 to $25 million in the first fiscal year.

Between the opioid crisis, severe mental health issues, lack of foster homes, and other challenges, Walker said with the needs of children and families are overwhelming.

"We're talking about probably one of the most vulnerable populations," said Walker. "The kids that the agency served that have been abused and neglected, and especially with the needs on the residential side, multi-system sides. And then with the kinship support."

Brenneman cautioned that without additional investments, state and federal child welfare transformation mandates will impede their ability to respond to families in crisis.

"Our goal in child welfare is to ensure safe, happy, healthy families and children," said Brenneman. "And we really need to help the assistance of the state Legislature and the governor's office to make that a reality."