Kudos to Frances Strickland for visiting all 88 counties with Ohio Family and Children First

Governor’s wife lauds Seneca County
First Lady learns of local programs for family, children
Kromer, MaryAnn. Tiffin Advertiser Tribune, March 29, 2008.

Seneca County Family and Children First Council had a special visitor Friday — Frances Strickland, wife of Ohio’s governor, Ted Strickland.

As the chairwoman of Ohio Family and Children First, the state’s First Lady is visiting every county to speak with community representatives about their needs, successes and goals. Seneca County was the 42nd stop on the way to 88.

Arriving at 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Strickland spent more than two hours with 31 leaders representing school systems, governmental agencies and organizations in the area.

“One of the reasons Ted wanted me to take this position is that people always matter ... He wants you to know he values everything you do,” Mrs. Strickland said. “The governor appoints the chair of this at the state level. They asked me if I was interested, and he was delighted that I wanted to take it on.”

“We’re very excited to have you on the cabinet council,” said Sharon George, director of the Seneca County Family and Children First Council, who hosted the meeting.

George said she was asked to prepare a presentation to give the first lady a profile of the local population with statistics on income, employment and schools. The program also included the council’s staff, programs, activities, challenges and successes.

Scott Urban of Tiffin City Schools spoke about the 12-15 percent increase in the poverty rate over the last seven years, resulting in more transient families.

He also noted the rising numbers of schoolchildren, especially in the primary grades, with bipolar illness and autism. He said administrators must be able to advise teachers about the agencies and programs available to help children and families.

“Mental health issues are a major challenge to our staff ... They’re the front line of defense in working with these students,” Urban said. “Our staff is dealing with a different group of parents than they’ve had in the past.”

Connie Dorr, assistant superintendent of Fostoria Community Schools, told Mrs. Strickland of difficulties in maintaining regular school attendance and bridging the language barrier. Marjorie Broadhead, director of the Seneca County Health District, shared her concerns about sexually transmitted diseases among youth and about the disintegration of the family. She appealed to Mrs. Strickland to “Help us provide affordable access to care in our county,” including mental health counseling and dental care.

On the positive side, George listed successful efforts FCFC has been able to coordinate. They included: Partnerships for Success, Drug-Free Communities Support Grant;wraparound coordination; school/agency consortiums; multi-systemic therapy; teen pregnancy prevention, resulting in 25 percent reduction of births to unwed mothers; Scholastic book distribution and volunteer reading program; and mentoring programs with Ridge Mentoring Center.

George said future projects include establishing a pre-teen center, bringing Big Brothers/Big Sisters back to Seneca County, fatherhood initiatives, and family coaching and mentoring. Strickland expressed interest in having teleconferences in which people from Seneca County could make presentations about the Parenting Passport and other successful programs with the state FCFC cabinet and with other counties.

Mrs. Strickland said she was encouraged at the level of collaboration Seneca County entities already had achieved.

“This county seems to be leaders in seeing the community as a whole. They seem to see the social service system here as a unit working together. That’s the way we want to go in the future,” Strickland said. “You all are operating at the level I was hoping to find in the second round. ... You realize that you’re better together than you are separate.”

The two main concerns that Strickland has heard at nearly every stop are the need for flexible funding, such as block grants, and the rise of mental illnesses, such as substance abuse and depression, among youth and their families. Strickland said she is learning more about what local agencies are dealing with and about the “complicated lives” of clients. Before departing, she asked those attending to pinpoint the outdated policies that are hampering their effectiveness and inform her of possible solutions and outcomes.

Having been trained as psychologists, the Stricklands both have worked with at-risk citizens. The first lady said her goals include establishing trust between the public and government and approaching problems with optimism that they can be solved. She said the governor plans to “be out” having forums for other programs, as well.

“Ted’s and my greatest fear is getting insulated from the real world up there at the state level. He came out of the trenches. I did too. We were always complaining that ‘somebody at the state level needs to know this.’ We want to make sure we allow that openness of communication and those good ideas to make it to the top,” Mrs. Strickland said. “This was the best road for me to do that, that I could think of.”

Her next stop was Kenton and the Hardin County FCFC. The winter weather only canceled two of her planned visits. Mrs. Strickland said she will do a follow-up in all the counties this fall in hopes of obtaining more details and specific needs.

“We might have more specific questions we want to ask about ideas we’re having.” Strickland said. “We think as people become more aware of the direction we need to go as a state, there will be a greater understanding about how to make the best use of our funds.”

Mrs. Strickland encouraged Seneca County to continue the “creative and innovative” strategies they have been using to collaborate and use pooled funds across multiple agencies. She said Ohioans can be very generous when they understand goals and methods of achieving them.

“People get satisfaction out of solving problems. They care, and they like to show that they care, but nobody wants to support something they don’t understand,” Strickland said. “You’re trying to solve your problems, and that’s what we really want.”