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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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.