Wish every Ohio county had a Fill This House for foster care alumni

Fill This House, Bay Village nonprofit helps former foster kids make it on their own 
Galbinicea, Barb. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 9, 2014.

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio – Adam Mays can’t believe his eyes.

“All this?” the 18-year-old asks, gesturing to the bags and boxes that pack Laura Geuther’s SUV. There’s a microwave, bedding , dishes, glasses, flatware and more. All of it is brand new.

There’s even a loaf of pumpkin bread baked by Geuther’s mother and, as with every delivery from Fill This House, a nonprofit that helps former foster children, there’s a Bible tucked into one of the bags.

Geuther is the executive director of the grassroots organization, based in Bay Village. The group this year has helped 60 young people like Mays who were in foster care and are now trying to make it on their own.

Experts say that thousands of young people “age out” of foster care systems across the country every year. There are hundreds of them in Northeast Ohio alone. Most are 18, with no family support system.

Mays, an upbeat guy with big dreams, tells Geuther after they tote all the bounty to the second floor on a recent Saturday that he had just moved in the night before to the bare apartment on Cleveland's West Side. There’s no bed, no refrigerator, no stove, not one piece of furniture. He says that after spending most of his life in and out of foster care, he moved in with only his clothes.

Geuther has heard the story before and it’s part of what motivates her and her board to intervene at “what is a pivotal moment in these kids’ lives. They’re either going to go one way or the other.” 

The household goods, valued at about $600 per delivery, are accompanied by a healthy dose of support to young people who may have had little of that over their lives.

“Stay in school,” Geuther advises during her delivery to Mays. “Keep plugging away, The rest of your life is a long time.”

Mays nods. “I’m really determined,” he says, confiding that he’d like to go to college to prepare for a career working with animals, maybe as a veterinarian.

Before she leaves, Geuther asks Mays and his friend to join hands with her and pray. She asks God to watch over them, to help them achieve their dreams. Then she and Mays hug.

A fresh start 
Alexis Smith is 20 now, and Geuther jokes that Smith is her “ambassador” in Cleveland, telling other young people who have “aged out” of foster care what Fill This House can do for them.

Smith was living with a friend when Geuther’s group, which usually works through caseworkers or other nonprofits, came into her life. “We didn’t have anything,” she said. “We were so excited.”

And it wasn’t just any old stuff. Geuther says she makes it a point to ask to ask those served what colors they like and “everything was brand new,” marvels Smith. “If you spend your life in foster care, you get a lot of hand-me-downs. [Geuther] was just so caring."

Geuther likes to tell the story about how when she delivered the microwave to Smith, her roommate started to take the tag off. Smith stopped her, wanting to preserve the “newness” as long as she could. “You could tell how much it meant to her to have something new,” Geuther said.

Smith now lives in the YWCA’s Independence Place – a haven for homeless kids who have aged out of foster care. She says that during her time in the foster system, she was in 17 different homes and attended 23 schools. But she graduated from high school – the first on her mother’s side of the family, Smith says proudly -- and adds that she’s now within reach of her bachelor’s degree. After that, she’s shooting for a master’s.

 She’s not entirely sure what career she wants to pursue, but knows it will be about helping people. “There’s a lot that’s dear to my heart,” she says.

As Smith speaks, Geuther beams. “Good for you,” she says as Smith talks about continuing her education. “I’m so proud of you.”

Filling a house
The opportunity to take over the operation of Fill This House in December 2012 came into Geuther’s life “just as I was praying to find something fulfilling to do,” she says. Liz Tippit, who founded the group in 2007 and remains on the organization’s board, had stepped down and the nonprofit was looking for a new executive director. Geuther stepped up and hasn’t looked back. “When I’m in, I’m in,” she says.

The group, which has no paid staff and no office, raises donations through fundraisers, grants and “showers” like one held recently in Bay. Everyone attending brings a household item to help a former foster child.

On that recent Saturday, the pile in a corner of Fill This House board member Mary Lou Kennedy’s home kept growing as Geuther spread the word about Fill This House to rapt newcomers at the shower. She told them about delivering to young people sleeping on the floor, living in apartments with no water, where the neighborhood seems unsafe, where one obstacle after another seems to present itself.

“These are real kids,” Geuther said, driving home the point of her stories.

It’s especially touching to moms like Barb Sullivan, also a board member, who says she thinks of her own sons and how they would fare entirely on their own at age 18, with no parents to ask for help or advice. Kennedy, also a mom, said she has the same thoughts. “It really touches your heart,” she said.

Added Sullivan: “You realize how blessed we are. And you realize the scars that these kids take with them.”

Board member Dana Hastings says it’s been eye-opening to go on deliveries and see the spare existence facing the former foster children. At one such bare apartment, Hastings recalls, the young woman had a lamp with no shade and a 2-year-old child.

Although Fill This House is based on Christian principles, Geuther said it serves young people regardless of their faith. “There’s a Bible in there,” she tells Mays, pointing to one of the bags she just lugged up the stairs to his apartment. “If you’re not going to use, give it to someone who will.” He says he’ll keep it.

Geuther says there are so many young people like Mays and Smith who need help that Fill This House is trying to broaden its outreach. That goal got a little easier when Great Lakes Computer Corp. offered free warehouse space to store the nonprofit's donations, making it feasible to save money by buying in bulk. Another supporter, Custom Fundraising Solutions, works exclusively with Fill This House to provide mattresses to kids with no beds. As Geuther leaves Mays’ apartment, she lingers on the steps, dispensing some parting advice: Talk to College Now Greater Cleveland about how to pay for college, follow up with your caseworker for a voucher for the Cleveland Furniture Bank and “call me if you need help.”

And, as she says she does at every delivery: “We believe in you and we are praying for you.”

 For more information about Fill This House, call Geuther at 216-513-5447 or email lgeuther@fillthishouse.org.

Press Release from Rahab’s Hideaway

Columbus, Ohio/November 19, 2013- BREAKING NEWS: Rahab’s Hideaway receives Group Home Licensure! The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) approved licensure application for Rahab’s Hideaway- a 10-bed Group Home for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficked Victims and Runaway Girls. NISRE, Inc., the parent company of Rahab’s Hideaway was notified by ODJFS on November 14, 2013 that the application for Rahab’s Hideaway was approved for full licensure.

This is a dream come true for Rahab’s Hideaway Founder, Marlene Carson, who is a survivor of human trafficking and an advocate who brings education and awareness to the community while comforting, supporting and providing hope to other victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Carson started Rahab’s Hideaway in 2008 with the dream to one day develop appropriate responses to meet the needs of those who have become victims of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking; including, but not limited to, the development of a model facility that can provide refuge and facilitate recovery. Such a facility could meet the needs of our community and provide a template, which if followed by others could extend the benefits of our good efforts across our country and around the world. That dream as now become a reality.

Michele Johnson, Founder and CEO of NISRE Inc., recently expanded its agency mission into combating sexual trafficking by providing housing solutions for victims and at risk youth by joining forces with Marlene Carson and bringing Rahab’s Hideaway on board as a program under its parent company. NISRE, Inc. is a faith based, non profit housing organization that is licensed and certified by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) and operate Community Residential Centers in 5 Ohio cities including Columbus, Akron, Mansfield, Cincinnati and Chillicothe. It is the plan of NISRE, Inc. to expand Rahab’s Hideaway in all of the cities where NISRE, Inc. currently operates.

The newly licensed home is now accepting referrals from all Public Children’s Services agencies in Ohio. For information on how to make a referral, please contact us at info@nisreinc.org.

Beth and Dylan in the news

Former foster child and advocate facing homelessness
Wheeler, Kim. WKYC, Dec. 2, 2013.

CLEVELAND -- In October, a local Cleveland State student gave the keynote speech at an all-star event in New York City to help abused and neglected children.

He helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for foster children -- like he was.

This child advocate is now facing homelessness himself -- just months after being surrounded by some of the biggest names in show business.

Dylan McIntosh never had a place to call home -- when he was just 3 years old he went into foster care. He was in numerous foster homes from Medina County to Cuyahoga County, changing schools 11 different times.

At 18, Dylan was no longer a foster child -- he aged out without ever being adopted.

McIntosh has been a student at Cleveland State for two years now, and that's the longest he's ever been in one place. He was in 23 different foster homes as a child.

"I never had lasting relationships because I knew in less than a year I would be gone," says Dylan.

That's why when he graduates from CSU he wants to work to change the foster care system. His advocacy even got the attention of the group Children's Rights, which helps abused and neglected kids. He was the keynote speaker in October at their fundraiser in New York City.

"I was on top of the world, and now I'm not sure where I'm going to live," says Dylan. He's been renting a room -- but being new to this, he just had a verbal agreement.

He has to move out next week. He can't afford to rent an apartment and is now looking at homeless shelters.

"One of statistics is that 25 percent of foster youth end up homeless by their 25th birthday," says Beth Dawson of Foster the Soul Ministry. Each month in Cuyahoga County 15 to 20 kids age out of foster care. There are 700 kids right now who may not be adopted before aging out.

If you would like to help Dylan or other foster children who are aging-out of the system, go to www.thedevelopmentproject.org

Dayton article about Ohio Reach

Colleges reach out to foster youth
Support often lacking for the more than 1,000 foster youth who age out of system each year.
Pant, Meagan. Dayton Daily News, Dec. 2, 2014

Caption: Kurt Holden, a Wright State University police officer, leads his dog Galli through the Student Union. Holden had aged out of the foster care system and decided to go to college to have a place to live. Emancipated foster youth Kurt Holden, now a Wright State University police office, wants to be an inspiration to other former foster children.

Kurt Holden enrolled at Wright State University just to have a place to live after he aged out of the foster care system.

The statistics were against him — more than one in five emancipated foster care youth will become homeless after 18, half will be unemployed at age 24 and fewer than 3 percent will earn a college degree by 25, according to the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

Today, Holden has an associate degree from Sinclair Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Wright State and he is pursuing a master’s degree.

He also serves as a role model for other former foster youth trying to make their way through college.

“I wanted to really show them that this is possible,” the 27-year-old Holden said. “I’m an image, someone that they can maybe look up to — to go on and achieve what they thought maybe was impossible because the statistics say it nearly is.”

Local colleges and universities are doing more to support students who have aged out of the foster care system — a population they say is the most at-risk of being homeless, dropping out and needing public assistance for much of their lives.

Every year, more than 1,000 young people in Ohio and 26,000 nationwide age out without anyone to turn to for support, anywhere to live or anyway to make a living. A new study says the cost of doing nothing to support those young adults is $300,000 on average over their lifetimes in public assistance, incarceration and lost wages — adding up to $7.8 billion spent by communities and taxpayers, according to the group Success Beyond 18.

Building accountability
Holden works as a Wright State University police officer and patrols the campus with his bomb dog, Galli. He volunteers with Wright State’s Independent Scholars Network, which was established four years ago to support and guide former foster care youth.

Before the network was created, foster care students lacked a guiding hand to make the university experience less intimidating. Wright State officials heard from one student about his move-in day experience. He was dropped off at the Student Union in a white van with just two Meijer plastic bags containing his personal possessions and had no one to help him navigate what to do next, said Simone Polk, assistant vice president for student services at WSU.

Polk said they agreed: “We don’t want that to happen again.” Now, the university welcomes foster students on move-in day with a special dinner and welcome baskets containing items parents might typically buy. They attend a bootcamp, college writing workshops, get study coaches and more. The university also awards two competitive $500 scholarships each year.

There are now nearly 50 former foster students on campus. Students agree to participate in at least 70 percent of the activities offered and volunteer at the campus food pantry — which is a strong accountability factor, Holden said. “When I was in foster care, there’s no accountability. It’s just you, by yourself. So we want to build all that accountability around the network so they feel they have a sense of responsibility to achieve success,” he said. “We give them every opportunity to be successful and all we ask them to do is show up.”

Helpful resources
Students now get help through Ohio Reach, which provides an online resource where students can find contact information for a liaison on campus who can connect them with resources they need.

That can help students who might be embarrassed to ask for help on issues such as not having a place to stay during winter break, said Chris Klefeker, who was formerly the foster care liaison at Miami University Hamilton.

“Having someone that can just make a phone call for you… part of that is not having to tell your story over and over. So you don’t go over to financial aid and stand in line and say, ‘I need extra money for books because I was in foster care’… And then to go over to records and have to say it again,” she said. “It becomes a really demoralizing experience.”

Those liaisons can help the students overcome barriers, which can start with the fee to even apply for college, which might be $50. Miami has a question on its application form where former foster youth can identify themselves to be contacted for help.

There are 19 former foster care youth on the Hamilton campus now. “Our ultimate goal is that people will choose to come to college and will be retained here, and graduate and be successful,” she said.

But there is a disconnect, she said: Over 70 percent of foster youth say in high school they want to go to college, and yet about 2 percent graduate.

“That’s troubling,” Polk said. “Because we know that the American dream is going to be more difficult to achieve in the years coming. And that opportunities and access to employment to earn a living wage above the minimum wage is going to require a bachelor’s degree.”

‘I can actually be somebody’
Mariah Maxwell said she never thought about going to college when she was in foster care. She entered the system when she was 10 years old, lived in 11 different homes and aged out after high school.

“I was going to keep working at Kroger, the job that I had,” she said.

But that changed when she was paired with a mentor through the Higher Education Mentoring Initiative. She showed Maxwell how different college was than high school by allowing her to sit in on class at the University of Cincinnati.

In April, Maxwell was the first HEMI participate to graduate from the University of Cincinnati. She earned two degrees is psychology and criminal justice. And she is now pursuing a master’s degree in criminal justice there and has a son of her own, 18-month-old Mosiah.

“Without this program I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she said. “It made me realize I can actually be somebody and I didn’t have to be a statistic.”

HEMI was created in Hamilton County four years ago. Mentors in the program can help students visit college campuses, fill out forms to apply for financial aid and find scholarships, said program coordinator Annie Schellinger.

Changing the stigma
Holden said he was too young to remember when he entered foster care. He lived in at least six homes and changed schools multiple times.

“The foster care system was never set up to be a permanent system,” he said. “It was a set up for a temporary placement to fix whatever issues they had and then return that placement. But it’s turned into more of a permanent lifestyle.”

Policies vary between states about how long youth can receive support, and some provide free tuition for public schools to former foster youth. Ohio does not.

After a year at Wright State, Holden said he saved enough money to go to Sinclair and have an apartment. “I was the first in my family to achieve a degree,” he said.

Holden said he wanted to do the opposite of his drug-addicted father and mother and “be something someday.” He also wanted to break the cycle for his wife and nearly two-year-old son.

“I found my motivation through all that brokenness,” he said, adding that he was also motivated by his three brothers, who were also in foster care. Ultimately he wants to change the stigma that is sometimes attached to foster youth.

“We have just as much potential (as other students),” he said. “We may have some emotional scars from our past, but we can use that as our driving force.”

Plain Dealer discussion continues...

Guest Columnist: Children in foster care need support after age 18
Chapman, John. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 28, 2013

Did you need a parent after age 18? 

My five adopted sons over the age of 18 did, and we anticipate their younger, 16-year-old adopted brother will, also.

Similarly, foster children, who age out of the child protection system at age 18, need parental help. Foster children, just like my sons, need someone to help them deal honestly with traumatic emotional issues resulting from their abusive birth homes, with girl/boyfriend issues without the violence they witnessed prior to entering the child protection system, and with the frustrating bureaucratic issues related to Medicaid, college, job, lease and loan applications, bank accounts and related debit, credit and prepaid cards, income tax returns, and school Individual Education Plans that can drive even seasoned adults to anger.

Plus, as my 18-year-old son Monty said, “I need someone to come home to.” 

Monty states a need for someone to guide him when he “screws up.” He wants someone to empathetically listen to him vent about the “irritations of life.” And, Monty desires someone to help him learn how to drive once he gets to a level of responsibility where he will stop at every stop sign or not text while driving.

Thankfully, he wants me to help him with his wishes. But, unfortunately, most aging-out foster children do not have someone to assist them with these basic needs. Instead, they feel alone.

Can we help foster kids like Candice Woodland, highlighted in Phillip Morris’ Nov. 24 Plain Dealer column, not feel abandoned? Can our community, through a public, private and philanthropic partnership, develop an innovative program to help kids aging out of its child protection system?

This type of partnership worked once before. Led by the United Way Community Vision Council on Strong Families=Successful Children, Cuyahoga County, companies like Eaton and funders like the Gund Foundation and Cleveland Foundation came together to create the Adopt Cuyahoga’s Kids Initiative in 2003. This initiative, for which I served as an oversight co-chair, proved instrumental in helping reduce the number of children available for adoption in Cuyahoga County from 1,700 in 2004 to 610 in July 2012.

The Adopt Cuyahoga’s Kids Initiative, led by Adoption Network Cleveland (ANC), won many national awards for adoption innovations. But, it left unanswered the question of what might happen to children that could not or did not want to be adopted prior to emancipation; young people ill-prepared for the intellectual, emotional and financial responsibilities of adulthood like Candice Woodland.

We knew that this issue needed addressing back in 2003. Our studies to justify the expense of Adopt Cuyahoga’s Kids Initiative showed the significant societal cost of incarceration or perpetuation of the abuse cycle due to these young people aging out of the child protection system.

But, the adoption crisis needed to be addressed first. Can we now come back together to help our aging-out children and guide them through young adulthood? Parents that can help these young adults continue their journey towards becoming respectful and responsible adult members of our community by learning to deal with the frustrations adults face like bureaucracies, forms and applications. But, more importantly, can we find someone for these young adults “to come home to?”

John Chapman, father of six adopted children, was the co-chair of United Way Community Vision Council on Strong Families=Successful Children in 2003 and received the Angel in Adoption Congressional Award in 2012.

Editorial on the needs of "aging out" foster youth

Editorial: Foster-care youth need a far better safety net
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 27, 2013.

Cuyahoga County has worked hard to get eligible youngsters adopted. Now it has to work just as hard to help youth who age out of the system find a home, a job and a mentor. Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer Thanks to two illuminating columns by The Plain Dealer's Phillip Morris, we know what happens when former foster-care kids end up practically on the streets.

 It's not a pretty sight. Kevin Ballard and Candice Woodland, who both aged out of the foster-care system, have spent the last few years sleeping on friends' sofas and trying to find a place they can call home.

With the help of the Urban League, the YWCA, Volunteers of America and loving, extended and foster families, Ballard and Woodland didn't hit rock bottom after they fell between the cracks.

Others aren't as lucky. The John Casey Youth Opportunities Initiatives program, which focuses on kids who have "aged out" of foster care, has found that, nationally, 58 percent of former foster-care students fail to graduate from high school by 19 and fewer than 3 percent have a college degree by age 25.

Similar fates stalk the 200 people who age out of Cuyahoga County's foster-care system each year.

Cuyahoga County and surrounding counties with large foster-care clientele, such as Lorain and Summit, have a moral obligation to create a far better safety net for these youth to help ease their rocky transition to adulthood. The best way to do that is to make sure that more of these youngsters are adopted so that they have permanent homes and families they can rely on to help guide them through adulthood.

But that won't be possible for every youngster. Patricia Rideout, director of Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services, says that many youngsters are entering foster care when they are 15 or 16 and have no interest in being adopted.

Yet too many of them end up in the streets after they turn 18, not knowing where to turn. Their safety net is a hodgepodge with too little coordination or communication about the resources available. 

That must change -- something social service agencies and Cuyahoga County children's services department are working on. The Cleveland YWCA, for example, has 23 furnished apartments for young people from 18 to 24 who have documented proof they are homeless and have a disability.

Here's what these young people need to know: Foster-care youth who age out of the system in Cuyahoga County can turn to their former caseworkers and get services when they are in trouble, says Mary Louise Madigan, a spokeswoman for Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services.

Scott Britton, assistant director of Public Children Services Association of Ohio, an umbrella group for child welfare services, says these young adults are eligible for Medicaid and education and training vouchers for school. Wright State University even has a scholars program for former foster-care children that offers counseling and mentoring, says Britton.

But these resources can be hard for a young person on his or her own to navigate.

Fortunately, a consortium of social service agencies including Sisters of Charity, FrontLine Service, which is a Cleveland mental health services organization, and others have teamed up with the Jim Casey program to hire a program coordinator to help prevent homelessness, a major risk confronting these young adults.

Casey's "You're our kids forever," philosophy is valuable, says Eric Morse, the chief operation officer of Cleveland-based FrontLine Service, which provides supportive housing to former foster-care children. Youth with fragile ties to their biological and foster-care families need an adult mentor or caseworkers to keep them on the right course.

Here's where the community comes in: Betsie Norris, CEO of Adoption Network Cleveland, says that her agency's mentorship program for kids aging out of foster care could use more mentors. At least 25 youngsters are on the waiting list. You can reach her program at www.adoptionnetwork.org/volunteer-mentoring.aspx

And Morse says his housing program could use household items such as pots, pans and kitchen utensils to help young adults set up their first apartment. Donations can be given through frontlineservice.org

For more on the local YWCA's Nurturing Independence and Aspirations program that supports and houses at-risk foster kids aging out of the system, contact Teresa Sanders at 216-881-6878 or tsanders@ywcaofcleveland.org

Young people like Kevin Ballard and Candice Woodland deserve a helping hand from the rest of us.

We have failed them long enough.

Cleveland Plain Dealer shedding light on challenges for youth who "age out" of foster care

One man's journey from foster care to the streets is a familiar refrain
Morris, Phillip. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 17, 2014

Kevin Ballard is homeless. He has been homeless since he aged out of foster care at the age of 18 in 2010.

Why should you care?

Because we as a society tend to mostly ignore this extremely vulnerable population, young adults who are emancipated from foster care. We send a check to a host family up until a kid turns 18 and then we turn our backs. That’s when bad things quickly happen. That’s when these children – now without the most basic family structure or consistent support systems – are left to fend for themselves. Then we pay for it on the backend.

That’s where Kevin finds himself. He is at that wildly confusing and dangerous point in life when far too many foster children, especially males, resume their status as wards of the state, this time through incarceration.

During the three years since Kevin aged out of foster care, he has found shelter mostly through the kindness - and couches - of friends, family and strangers. Before that, he bounced between seven foster homes from ages 13 to 18.

 Life after foster care for Kevin, whose mother died when he was six months old, has been tough, insecure and unsafe. The streets have constantly beckoned.

In July, he was admitted into a 50-bed shelter run by the Volunteers of America on Cleveland’s near West Side. It is the only shelter in the County specifically geared for men between the ages of 18-24. The shelter staff works to find employment for its residents.

But with no high school diploma, any real work experience, or support system Kevin has been a hard placement. And he has grown increasingly frustrated.

This past summer he continued to make poor choices and to have minor brushes with the law. He continued a pattern of destroying relations with any biological family members who would take his calls. He stole (borrowed) his favorite Aunt’s car and initially faced a grand theft auto charge, a charge which was reduced to an unauthorized use of a vehicle.

In October he found a glimmer of hope, though. That’s when the same aunt, Ladeidra Ballard, a Cuyahoga County probation officer, and perhaps the last family member to believe in Kevin, steered him to the Urban League of Greater Cleveland’s job training program.

That’s where he said he felt an awakening. "I was really skeptical at first. I didn’t really see the point. But when my aunt signed me up I decided I had to give it a try."

After the first week he was hooked. Why? The staff at the Urban League convinced him to believe in himself. That simple.

Convince a kid to believe in himself and you can potentially convince a young man to change his outlook and his behavior. The Urban League taught him basic job interviewing skills and showed him how to construct a resume, even though he had never had a job worth mentioning. The staff there told him he could soar.

It sounds cliched. But he had never heard that before.

"I’ve made a lot of mistakes and burned a lot of bridges. When I was in foster care I didn’t feel like I had to let anyone tell me what to do," said Kevin. "But now I see where I still have some growing up to do. I need to take more responsibility for myself. I need to find work; I need to find a job. I don’t want to live in a homeless shelter," Kevin said.

The Urban League gave him a black blazer and a necktie. It was part of the effort to bolster his self-confidence and to make him appear and feel as if he were ready to enter the workforce. The makeover worked.

Perhaps, too well. Kevin was robbed at gunpoint last Friday afternoon just as he was reinventing himself. He was robbed of $25, a cell phone and a monthly bus pass, just when he was starting to look at himself in a different light and to see his own potential. He was robbed just as he was nervously preparing to go on his first real job interview, an overnight stocking position with Wal-Mart.

He was robbed, he said, because the hoodlums that assaulted him had recently seen him in the neighborhood, dressed like a wannabe businessman, not a homeless, desperate 21-year-old former gang-banger, who had just graduated from a job training program.

"When they started walking toward me I knew what was about to go down, so I squared up (to fight). That’s when one of the dudes pulled a gun and said, ‘we don’t fight, we shoot.’" Ironically, it wasn’t the gun pointed at his head that disturbed Kevin most. Last Friday wasn’t the first time he’d stared down the business end of a pistol. What really made his blood boil is his unshakable suspicion that his new black blazer was the anatomy of the robbery. He believes he stood out and attracted negative attention because he appeared vulnerable, as if he didn’t belong in the neighborhood.

One step forward. Two steps back.

Kevin remains undeterred, though. Friday afternoon he told me he was tentatively offered the job at Wal-Mart, but that it was predicated on a urine sample returning clean. When I spoke to him he was nervously awaiting the results. He’s ready to work.

The question remains, however, can he find the strength to muscle through the residual emotional damage – and profound aloneness - he experienced as he bounced between foster families? Can he begin to create his own sense of family and familiarity where none has ever existed before? Can he develop a sense of belonging to a community and to a workforce?

While some foster children retain contact with their nuclear foster families and thrive and others muddle along assisted by social services organizations that provide a baseline safety net, countless foster children are simply left to fend for themselves after emancipation.

That’s Kevin’s plight. He has good self-awareness. He’s intelligent and articulate. But most of all, he wants and envisions a better life. A life that gives him a fighting chance.

Now if only this former foster child can avoid the thugs on the block, some of whom will misinterpret his black blazer for weakness. If only he can find the resources and the will to avoid predators who will violently attempt to pull him back into the streets he’s trying so hard to leave. If only he will develop a life long work ethic, he just may thrive.

Kevin has aged out of foster care. But aged into what kind of life remains the burning question.

Ohio's very own John Davis, former President of the OHIO Youth Advisory Board

A successful life after foster care
Xenia Daily Gazette, 11/1/2013.

BEAVERCREEK — John Davis does not claim that living in a foster care group home for three and a half years was the ideal place to grow up. He does, however, acknowledge that Greene County Children Services’ Alpha Group Home was safer and more stable than the situation in which he had formerly been. He also says that his time there helped shape him into who he is today.

“Any time I have a chance to explain where I come from, I do,” said John. “Overall, living in the group home was a great experience. The staff tried their best to make it like a home and I’m very appreciative of that.” Davis’ former home life, he had witnessed the effects of substance abuse, and had personally experienced physical abuse and neglect.

After being in the custody of Greene County Children Services since 2009, John turned 18 last November, joining the ranks of children who have emancipated from the foster care system without being adopted. According to multiple studies, a majority of these children end up homeless and/or unemployed due to the lack of a stable family support system. In addition, they are less likely than the general population to finish high school, and they rarely graduate from college or earn more than minimum wage if they are employed. Nearly a third are incarcerated at some point.

John is determined to not become one of these disheartening statistics, and he is well on his way to succeeding. He is currently attending Gillette College in Gillette, Wyo. He got there, in part, by way of earning a performing arts scholarship from Energy City Voices, the college’s show choir.

“I became interested in singing and dancing during my sophomore year at Beavercreek High School,” said John. “I talked a friend into trying out for a talent show with me. We did a dance duet. After seeing my performance, members of the school show choir asked me to try out so I did and I got accepted.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Davis had soon formed his own dance troupe called B-Fierce. He also signed up for acting classes and performed in musicals including Fame and Anything Goes. Extracurricular school groups he became involved in included the A Capella Choir, Peer Listening Group and Gay-Straight Alliance.

Along the way, John also used his developing leadership skills to become the President of the Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board (OHIO YAB), a group that seeks to influence policies that affect youth in foster care. In this capacity, from October 2012 through August 2013, John spoke at a variety of conferences focused on child welfare.

When he decided to audition for the Energy City Voices scholarship, he got plenty of support: his former high school show choir director let him use the choir’s performance space and a Children Services staff member played piano.

Following his first-ever airplane flight, John began his college experience by attending Energy City Voices’ summer camp in mid-August. The camp is described on the college’s website as “just what you need to share and expand your talents, all among the beauty and nature of the Big Horn Mountains.” John described the experience as “tons of fun.”

He has easily settled into dorm life, something he found he was well prepared for from living in the group home with eight other boys for three and a half years. He shares a dorm apartment with three other members of the show choir, an arrangement he calls “a blessing.” While it was his singing and dancing talent that won him the scholarship, John is actually majoring in Social Sciences.

Becoming a choreographer is his dream, but as a back-up plan, his goal is to become a social worker. “Dance is my outlet but social work is something that’s also very important to me,” he explained. “I would love to work with children and help them through some of the same life struggles that I’ve been through. The Children Services workers in Greene County actually spent the time to work with each individual kid in the group home and focus on our individual needs. They all led me in the right direction in their own ways.”

Greene County Children Services is a division of the Greene County Department of Job & Family Services and provides for the care, protection and placement of abused, neglected and dependent children in Greene County. The agency engages in a wide spectrum of protective activities including the assessment of thousands of child abuse and neglect reports received each year. It also provides preventive services to children in their own homes as well as providing temporary and permanent child placement through foster care, adoption, group home and independent living programs.

Article about 2013 Connecting the Dots Conference

Fostered teens in Ohio get lessons in making it on their own
Blackwell, Brandon. Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 28, 2013.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Next month, 19-year-old Re’Gine Wells will leave foster care. The looming independence frightens her, but on Thursday Wells gained a bit of courage to tackle life outside the system.

The Clevelander was one of nearly 300 fostered teens from around the state who descended on Columbus for the “Connecting the Dots Conference,” where those facing autonomous adulthood were given tips and tools to make it on their own.

The conference, now in its second year and sponsored by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, provided a day of workshops and mentoring on resume writing, dressing for a job interview, renting an apartment and more.

“You are here today because at some point in your life very soon you are going to leave the foster care system, and we have to get you ready to leave,” said Michael Colbert, ODJFS director, during the conference’s opening remarks. “You will succeed. When you leave foster care, it is our goal that you go to work, or college, or the armed forces -- not through a door that is not positive.”

Nationally, about 81 percent of males formerly in foster care are arrested by the time they turn 24, and nearly half of all females formerly in foster care become pregnant by the time they turn 19, according to ODJFS.

“We are going to change foster care for the better in this state,” Colbert said. “We are not going to accept the status quo.”

Benjamin Johnson, ODJFS spokesman, said more than 1,000 young people in Ohio age out of foster care each year. Many age out at 18, but those who are still in high school or are pursuing a GED may stay in foster care until they finish, he said.

Wells recently completed her GED.

“I’m really scared right now, but I think I’ll make it,” Wells said. “The [Connect the Dots] program gives me confidence. I think it’s great that I get to learn and socialize with people who can relate to me.”

Those at the conference were able to choose among more than a dozen workshops to attend. Topics included personal health, public speaking and applying to college. Wells, who entered the foster system at age 15, said she hopes to attend Cuyahoga Community College in the spring.

“I’d like to be an accountant or financial adviser,” Wells said. “I love working with numbers.”

The conference is part of a larger “Connecting the Dots” initiative, which brings together ODJFS and Big Brothers Big Sisters to help allay the struggles of transitioning out of foster care. “Connecting the Dots” in April announced it would launch its program in five pilot locations, including Cuyahoga County, with the goal of determining best practices across the state.

The program will bring “fundamental, systemic changes” to foster care in Ohio, Colbert said.

Wells is grateful for the support. “I don’t think you could advocate enough for foster care,” she said. “We just want the same opportunities as everyone else. We’re not all damaged goods.”

Summit County Connecting the Dots Program

Summit County attempts to smooth transition for foster kids aging out of the system
Armon, Rick. Akron Beacon Journal, July 25, 2013.                 

Saunja Mayfield, a clothing specialist with Summit County Children Services, talks about her involvement in the pilot program called Connecting the Dots, during an interview in her office on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Akron, Ohio. The program tries to help foster kids who are aging out of the system with real life situations. (Ed Suba Jr./Akron Beacon Journal)

 

Summit County attempts to smooth transition for foster kids aging out of the systemJuly 26,2013 04:00 PM GMTRick ArmonBeacon Journal Publishing Co. Copyright � 2013 Beacon Journal Publishing Co. Inc and Black Press. All Rights Reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of the Akron Beacon Journal is expressly prohibited.

After about eight years living with foster families, Saunja Mayfield wanted to break free of the system and be on her own.

At 19, she thought she knew it all and wanted to live by her own rules, just like any rebellious teen.
Looking back, Mayfield, now 24, admits she was unprepared for life with no family or institutional support. She ended up homeless bouncing from house to house.

“Life hits you hard after you get out,” she said. “You feel like the whole world is against you.”
Her experience is common for the 1,000 to 1,300 young Ohioans — and estimated 24,000 kids nationwide — who age out of the foster care system each year.

To try to improve the oftentimes bumpy transition, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Big Brothers Big Sisters and eight counties, including Summit, have launched a pilot program called “Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to Employment and Independent Living.”

It’s designed to better prepare foster kids and those recently emancipated for work, vocational training or college, and just plain living on their own.

Summit, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Lake, Montgomery, Preble, Clinton and Greene counties are participating. The state has devoted nearly $6 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) money for the three-year effort, including $537,000 in Summit.

The goal is eventually to roll out the best practices statewide.

Sobering statistics
Without parents pushing and teaching life lessons, the odds are stacked against foster kids. And there’s no safety net for them to fall back on.

Nationally, 81 percent of the boys are arrested by age 24, while 48 percent of the girls become pregnant by age 19.

A third have household incomes below the poverty level, a quarter experience post-traumatic stress disorder, and nearly a quarter end up homeless.

“We know that the statistics nationwide for young adults who leave foster care without being adopted are not good,” said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “We wanted to develop a program to counteract that.”

Boot camp
The Summit County program involves giving the at-risk teens a job for two years, assigning them mentors, offering tutoring and providing career counseling along the way.

A collaborative effort among the county Department of Job & Family Services, Children Services and agencies such as Goodwill Industries, the program began last month with a “boot camp” at the Job Center in Akron.

Nearly 30 teens gathered to play games and listen to a variety of speakers, including Mayfield.
She now works as a clothing specialist, ironically, at Summit County Children Services, the same agency that she was so desperate to escape.

One of eight children, she ended up in foster care after her parents were busted for drug problems.
The Akron woman, who has a 1-year-old child and is not married, dreams of becoming a social worker or counselor so she can help others.

Her advice for those in the system: Take advantage of all the educational opportunities offered and don’t feel sorry for yourself.

“You’re not the only foster kid in the world,” Mayfield said. “Don’t be bitter about it.”

One day at the boot camp, the topics ranged from building credit to how to dress for a job interview to staying out of trouble to riding the bus.

For foster kids, these are big issues.

“Young men, if I can see your underwear, you won’t even start to be interviewed,” Goodwill Industries Director of Career Services Christine Fontaine told them bluntly.

Meanwhile, Robert Sukel, a program manager at Greenleaf Family Center in Akron, advised them to be careful with their cash.

“There are so many people out there trained to separate you from your money,” he said.

On the job
Ten of the teens are working at the Goodwill facility on Waterloo Road in Akron.

“The important part with these kids is teaching basic work skills,” Fontaine said during a recent tour. “We’re trying to instill a work ethic.”

That, of course, and encourage them to pursue a career. They have grown up with a narrow view of the work world and don’t even consider some careers.

“Why can’t you be a registered nurse?” Fontaine asked. “Why can’t you be a chef?”

Nervous excitement
The Beacon Journal sat down with three teens participating in the Connecting the Dots program at Goodwill.

All three had become emancipated within the last couple of weeks.

They expressed excitement over their newfound freedom and, at the same time, nervousness.

Cortez Brown, 18, of Akron, now lives in his own apartment with financial help from Children Services. He will be training at Stark State College to be an auto technician and also wants to enter the music industry.

His foster parents warned him in advance about the expenses he would face: Rent, utilities and groceries, for example.

“I was kind of worried, kind of scared and it was kind of frightening that I was on my own,” Brown said. “I didn’t have anybody else. I was going to take care of myself. After that [initial feeling], things started to work out for me and I’m starting to get used to it.”

Ashley Hosterman, 18, of Akron, still lives with her foster family. She feels prepared for being on her own.

“I know a lot of things, but maybe not everything,” said Hosterman, who wants to be a massage therapist. “Yes, I am ready. That way I can finally say, ‘This is my home. This is my place.’ ”

But they also questioned whether anyone or any program can truly prepare foster kids for the experience. Sometimes, teens just don’t listen.

“I don’t think anybody can teach you,” said Kara Sweet, 19, who lives at the Highlands shelter because she’s pregnant and is headed to Stark State to study culinary arts and restaurant management. “You have to do it for yourself.”

Ohio ranks 50th -- last -- when it comes to state funding for child welfare

Jenny Konrath interviewed on behalf of the OHIO YAB

Coming of Age: Preparing Ohio's Older Foster Youth for Life
Kuhlman, Mary. Public News Service-OH, June 4, 2013.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The years spent coming of age are a critical time in a youth's life, especially for those who must face this time without the support of a stable home environment. In Ohio, the "Connecting the Dots" initiative is helping teenagers and young adults who have been in foster care make a successful transition into adulthood.

Nearly 1300 youth age out of foster care every year, but according to the director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Michael Colbert, many of them just go into another door in the system.

"They either go into a door of incarceration, a door of poverty or a door of despair," he declared. "We are trying to change that. We want those young people to go into college or we want 'em to go into a job, but in order for that to happen, we have to prepare them for life, just like we do our own kids, because they are our kids."

Connecting the Dots partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters to mentor older foster youth and prepare them for work, education and independent living. Meanwhile, Colbert said, they are also focused on finding a family for every child still in care. Through a partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation, 35 specialized recruiters are working throughout the state with the sole mission of finding adoptive families for older children in foster care.

Colbert said the support of state leaders, including Governor John Kasich, has helped to make these initiatives possible, along with guidance from Ohio's Youth Advisory Board.

Jennifer Konrath is among those on that board, which advises leaders on ways to improve the foster care system. She grew up in foster care and will graduate this year, and said she's grateful to the resources available that have guided her on her path.

"As foster youth, we don't have our parents to teach us how to find a job, what to wear, who to talk to for different things like housing or just everyday needs," Konrath said. "And it's hard as a foster youth because we didn't grow up with having a person to rely on for that."

Ohio currently has close to 12,000 children in foster care.

Overmedication of Foster Care Youth

Use of Meds Among Ohio’s Foster Kids Studied

Public News Service - OH | February 2013 | Download audio

 

PHOTO: A collaborative in studying the use of psychotropic medication among Ohio's foster children.

February 12, 2013

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Medications that control mood and behavior are increasingly prescribed to children in Ohio and other states, and experts say the practice is even more prevalent for children in foster care. A new collaborative in Ohio is examining the use of these drugs, which address problems such as anxiety, ADHD and depression.

According to the director of Trumbull County Children's Services, Tim Schaffner, sometimes these types of medications are used when they shouldn't be.

"Moms come in with their kids, having had them treated by the pediatrician who's not an expert in behavioral health issues, and we may be treating with medicine things that can be treated through counseling or through behavioral interventions."

Schaffner pointed out that some children do experience extreme trauma and have mental health challenges, and sometimes those children can benefit from psychotropic medications.

The Ohio Psychotropic Medication Quality Improvement Collaborative is working to raise awareness of the issue, develop guidelines for usage, and ensure the use of such medications is minimal and accompanied with alternative strategies. 70 to 80 percent of foster care youth have mental health problems and psychotropics are prescribed for them at two to three times the rate for other Medicaid children who are not in foster care.

As agency director, Schaffner said, he is personally responsible for the health and well-being of children in agency custody. That's why he signs off on any medication for those children.

"I always say I'm not acting like the doctor, I'm acting like the dad," Schaffner declared. "Any responsible parent is going to make informed-consent decisions about the medications that a doctor recommends, no matter what the condition is: medical, physical or emotional."

Schaffner has spent a good deal of his career in behavioral health care and has developed a model within his own agency for how to manage psychotropic medications. He is sharing that information with other agencies in Ohio, to help them create their own systems that work for their counties.

Mary Kuhlman, Public News Service - OH

Ohio Attorney General invests in Ohio Reach

Ohio Helps Make College Dreams a Reality for Foster Youth

Kuhlman, Mary. Public News Service, May 2013.

Download audio

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Liaisons at universities, community colleges and technical schools all over the state are helping former foster youth seeking higher education. As part of the Ohio Reach program, these liaisons are helping guide these young adults through their college years.

State Attorney General Mike DeWine pointed out that getting through college can be a struggle for former foster youths, because they can't simply call mom or dad when they need help.

"They don't really have - many times - the same support, and I don't just mean financial support, but the same emotional support, guidance that children who have not been in foster care have," he said.

DeWine recently announced a million dollars in funding for the Ohio Reach program, which is coming from Ohio's portion of the National Mortgage Settlement. Only about 2 percent of former foster youth earn bachelors' degrees.

At Ohio's fifth annual Ohio Reach Summit on Monday, experts, advisers, community leaders and former foster youths gathered to discuss policy and strategy to address recruitment and retention.

Youngstown State student and former foster youth Jasmine Hardy spoke of how her liaison guided her, just like a parent would.

"It's really helpful because she already knows what I'm talking about. She specializes in this area and she knows exactly what's going on. She's like,'Oh, I can help you with this,' and I'm in and out in five minutes," Hardy said.

According to the assistant vice president for student services at Wright State University, Simone Polk, liaisons go beyond the role of a typical college adviser by meeting with former foster children before they set foot on campus and, she said, they advocate for the student when problems arise.

"There can be some obstacles figuring out financial aid, where to live, finding your way around campus, just understanding process, bureaucracy, policies and procedures," as Polk described things.

Nearly 75 institutions across the state have liaisons involved in the Ohio Reach program.

Hooray for Mariah Maxwell -- great job!!

From Foster Care to Forensic Psychology

Ramsey, Krista. Cincinnati Enquirer, April 20, 2013

Mariah Maxwell remembers exactly what she planned to do with her life when she was a high school senior. “Nothing,” she says.


She was well on her way.




Bright enough to get into Walnut Hills High School, she fell behind once she got there and started avoiding the issue by skipping school.



Midway through her senior year, she was failing several classes and hadn’t started on a single college application.




“I hated school. I wanted to drop out. I was like, ‘OK, if I graduate, I graduate,’ ” she says.
Statistically, a high school diploma for Maxwell was only a 50-50 proposition from the start. A foster youth, she had been removed from her home after her mother beat her sister. She spent the next 10 years moving among 11 foster families.



It did not bode well.


At adulthood, a fourth of all former foster youth end up in jail; another fourth eventually become homeless. More than half are unemployed a year after leaving high school.


Only 3 percent will be lucky enough, or plucky enough, to find their way to college and graduate.
Which makes the odds of what Mariah Maxwell has accomplished almost infinitesimal.


On April 27, the 21-year-old will graduate from the University of Cincinnati with two degrees earned in three years.


As a teenager, she had nothing planned for her future. Now she’s waiting to hear if she’s admitted to UC’s graduate program in criminal justice, then hopes to pursue a doctorate in psychology. She plans a career as a forensic psychologist.


A local program called the Higher Education Mentor Initiative is a big part of Maxwell’s success story.



Begun in 2009, it matches foster youth with mentors who help them finish high school and enter college, and provides programming to support them once on campus.


“The mentors are just a godsend,” Maxwell says. “I owe where I am now to my mentor Kate Livingston and the HEMI program.”


A UC graduate student in women’s studies, Livingston took on many of the responsibilities a parent would handle. “She actually listened to me and tried to figure out why I hated high school,” Maxwell says. “I told her the real reason – because the work was too hard for me.”


So Livingston tutored Maxwell, then helped her sign up for college boards, analyze her financial aid package, schedule college classes, tour campus, move into her dorm.


Three years later, the two are celebrating Maxwell’s graduation as the first HEMI student to earn a degree.


Maxwell says her success has, in a sense, brought her life full circle. Her interest in forensic psychology stemmed from trying to understand her mother’s abuse. Her college studies, in turn, helped her make peace with the life she’d lived.


“My going into foster care opened up a lot of doors. Without it, I wouldn’t have met Kate or my foster mother, Sheeila Foster – they pushed me, and encouraged me to finish school,” she says.


“Now I don’t want my siblings or me to be statistics. I don’t want us to be homeless, to be incarcerated. What I want is to see ‘Doctor’ in front of my name.”

The firsthand experiences of Tristina Allen, Jenny Konrath, and Alex McFarland

Ohio moves to protect foster children

Advisory group hopes legislators endorse recommendations to improve foster care system

McCarty, Mary. Dayton Daily News, April 15, 2013

Tristina Allen grew up in the foster care system and aged out of the system without ever being adopted. Her story is one that the Foster Care Advisory Group is trying to prevent. She is part of the Independent Scholars program at WSU which works to help former foster kids to succeed. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

In the wake of a series of sweeping recommendations for overhauling Ohio’s foster care system, State Sen. Peggy Lehner called the reforms “an idea whose time has come.”

Her opinion is being echoed by the true experts: Ohio’s foster children.

Tristina Allen, 18, wishes more of these proposed changes had been in place during the five years she was in foster care in Toledo. Even small injustices can loom large in the life of a child, such as the current requirement for a background check when a child wants to do something as mundane as having a sleepover or riding to the mall with friends.

“It was horrible,” recalled Allen, now a freshman at Wright State University. “Imagine telling your friends, ‘I can come over to your house as long as your parents get a background check.’”

Alex McFarland, now a graduating senior at Miami University, endured a similar experience. “I never got to attend my high school prom. While the issue seems unimportant, this was a big deal for me. All my friends have nice photos and made memorable experiences. It just led to me coming up with another excuse and another hole to fill in my past.”

In an attempt to make childhood more normal for foster children, the advisory group said that Ohio should change its state statute to limit children services agencies’ liability when children participate in normal activities. Allen thinks that’s a great idea: “It’s already awkward enough to be in foster care, and all these rules make it super awkward.” She is attending WSU as part of the Independent Scholars program, which provides educational support for former foster children.

Normalizing childhood is just one of many goals of the Foster Care Advisory Group, which released its recommendations last week. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine convened the 31-member group last fall and charged them with finding solutions to problems identified at seven Child Welfare summits conducted across the state in 2012.

DeWine convened the summits after two high-profile deaths in 2011: 2-year-old DeMarcus Jackson of Cincinnati and 14-year-old Makayla Norman of Dayton, a cerebral palsy patient who weighed 28 pounds at the time of her death. Makayla’s doctor, Margaret Edwards, 51, of Trotwood pleaded no contest to three misdemeanors Friday, becoming the last of five people to be convicted of crimes in connection with her starvation.

Providing opportunities
Some proposals seem daunting, such as eliminating the gross inequities in funding among Ohio’s 88 counties. DeWine lamented the three-to-one discrepancy that can exist between one county and the next in child welfare spending. “That’s a monumental difference,” DeWine said. “All kids who live in Ohio should have the same opportunities, and we have to figure this out.”

That disparity translates into huge gaps in the amount of time it takes for a child to become adopted. In counties with child services levies, the average wait to be adopted is one year, in comparison with seven years in counties without levies. “Someone needs to stand in the gap and say, ‘This is important,’” said Marynell Townsend, executive director of the Ohio Family Care Association Board, who served on the advisory group.

The advisory group recommended the creation of a Shared Child Welfare Incentive Fund, which would reward local communities to raise additional funds for child welfare by creating a statewide fund to match local commitments. “That’s probably tougher than the other parts,” said Lehner, R-Kettering. “Any time you’re trying to raise money it’s more problematic.”

DeWine said the report’s recommendations are achievable: “Nothing is pie in sky. It’s not wishful thinking. All of it is within reach.”

Many of the proposed changes would cost no money, but would require only a tweaking in the language of the law — provisions giving foster children and foster parents greater voice in court. “I was really glad to see that fosters parents will be made more of a part of the decision-making process, because they know these children,” Lehner said.

Townsend believes that legislation would pass easily because of the broad-based, bipartisan nature of the advisory group. “There was a lot of compromise and consensus- building,” Townsend said. “The attorney general brought everyone to the table, so I am hopeful there will be a lot of support.”
Lehner is already drafting legislation for an omnibus bill, incorporating a half-dozen initiatives, she hopes to introduce in the fall. “I have no doubt this will result in some action,” she said.

Legislative action will be aimed at what is known as Planned Permanent Living Arrangements, where agencies are not required to make efforts to reunify the child, but the child is also not eligible for adoption. The PPLA is supposed to be used only in extreme cases, such as a severely disabled child, but DeWine and other experts believe it has been too widely used.

“There are judges who feel strongly that to sever the parental rights is like a death sentence, and they’re reluctant to do that,” Townsend said. “The result is that the child is not available for adoption and there’s no continuing followup. There’s a very good chance they’re going to age out of the system without having a permanent family.”

‘She inspires me’
Jennifer Konrath, a 17-year-old junior at Alter High School, believes it is too hard to sever parental ties. She has lived with her aunt, Susan Elias, since she was 8 years old, but hasn’t been adopted because her father wouldn’t relinquish custody, so she’s still in foster care under the protection of Cook County, Illinois, while living in Dayton. “I am lucky because I have an aunt who spoils me, who is like my mother, who gives me the same love as my mother,” she said. “They give biological parents too many rights, even when it’s not in the kids’ best interests. Everything was about my dad’s best interests.”

Another significant issue identified in the report is the effectiveness of the court-appointed guardian ad litems, who are supposed to look out for the child’s legal interests. The advisory group recommended tighter monitoring of guardian ad litems as well as strengthening the volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA, program to ensure that children have effective representation. DeWine announced he is awarding $2 million to the CASA program to fund the expansion of services across the state. “Guardian ad litems not doing their jobs is a big issue,” Lehner said. “We hear all the time that we haven’t seen him or her in a while.”

DeWine also awarded $1 million to Ohio Reach, which connects persons who have aged out of foster care to higher education opportunities. McFarland is thrilled with that decision. “As a soon to be college graduate nothing upsets me more than when I hear other youth acting as if college is out of the question for them,” he said. “I know youth from around the state. These kids are smart, driven and resilient.”

Simone Polk, assistant vice president for student services at Wright State University, is higher education chair for Ohio REACH. “I am so honored that the attorney general chose our program,” she said.

It should benefit students, such as Tristina Allen, an international studies major who is expanding horizons that once looked so bleak. “She is such a rising star,” Polk said. “She inspires me every day.”

Lorain County challenges: More youth in care, less funding and frontline staff

Children needs foster care services up in Lorain County

James, Jessica. Morning Journal, April 11, 2013

LORAIN — Since last summer, the number of children staying in foster homes under the supervision of Lorain County Children Services has increased from 90 to 125, said Executive Director Gary Crow.

The increase is likely due to the poor economy and the high number of drug-related arrests that have occurred in the county over the last year, Crow said.

“Primarily, we think the increase (in drug use) is related to the type of abuse and neglect we’ve been seeing,” he said. “There appears to be a significant increase in drug involved situations with parents; particularly with heroin and prescription drugs.”

Drug use has been on the rise across the county, as the overdose death toll tripled last year to 60, up from 22 in 2011, said Lorain County Coroner Dr. Stephen Evans.

 

 

Crow could not recall the number of drug-related calls the agency received in 2012, but did said those type of situations are more difficult to handle.

“On average, the number of drug situations that come to our attention are more difficult,” he said. “We’re less likely to resolve those situations because custody is sometimes transferred to a relative. Folks get into situations that are bad for them and their children.”

In 2012, Crow said there was a 10 percent increase in the number of child abuse cases reported in Lorain County, but since then, that number has leveled off.

Lorain County Children Services provides assistance to 450 families or 800 children in the county, Crow said.

Their mission statement states, “We are committed to the safety and well-being of abused, neglected, and dependent children and providing the highest quality protection, permanency, and prevention services for children and families.”

The agency receives 300 referrals a month, Crow said.

Of the 300 referrals, two thirds are screened for an investigation.

“We have the right to investigate anyone based on anonymous referral,” Crow said. “So if someone would say the child up the street is underfed, we would go out and knock on the door to see if that was true or not true.”

Children Services employs 120 staff members, 50 of whom are case workers. Case workers sometimes work with local law enforcement to ensure parents who are being investigated are adhering to the proper requirements.

“We work together really well; it’s a very cooperative relationship with agencies throughout the county,” Crow said.

“There are kind of two sides; they get called out on other situations and become aware of matters involving children. They contact us if they want our support or cooperation.”

Future Student Housing for Sinclair Community College Students

 










New Housing Development to Dramatically Transform Downtown Blocks
Dayton Daily News, April 11, 2013
 
An $18 million student housing complex will be built in downtown Dayton at the site of the former Dayton Daily News building and adjacent property, Cox Media Group Ohio announced yesterday afternoon. 

The complex, which will be located on the corner of Ludlow and Fourth streets, will breathe new life into this portion of the center city while increasing housing options -- a key strategy in the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, a blueprint for the future of our center city.

Cox Media Group Ohio plans to sell the property to the nonprofit United Housing and Community Services Corporation of California, which would partner with Missouri-based Student Suites to build the 350-bed housing complex located just a few blocks from Sinclair Community College.
The historic 1908 “bank” building at the corner of Fourth and Ludlow streets would be renovated while the press rooms to the west and the large 1950s newspaper office building attached to the north would be demolished, as would the city-owned Schwind building further north at 25 S. Ludlow St. In their place, Student Suites would construct a five-story, U-shaped, 200-apartment building with a courtyard, also using the existing 93-space parking lot to the west of the building.
“We are delighted with the plan for revitalization of this key segment of downtown Dayton,” said Julia Wallace, market vice president of Cox Media Group Ohio. “The historical legacy of the Dayton Daily News property will be preserved and this could bring hundreds of people downtown 24-7.”

Wallace said Cox will donate $1 million to the project. Aaron Sorrell, director of planning and community development for the city of Dayton, said city commission will consider its own $1 million contribution, aimed at acquiring and demolishing the largely vacant Schwind building. The bulk of the project -- $13.5 million -- would be financed through tax-exempt bonds, according to Sorrell, with the remainder of the money coming from the developer and possibly a federal historic tax credit.

“The market is unquestionably there,” Sorrell said. “The market studies that have been done over the years have shown a huge demand for student housing. ... This project of 350 beds just scratches the surface of the demand.”

“We thank Cox Media Group for its ongoing commitment to downtown Dayton,” said Downtown Dayton Partnership President Sandy Gudorf. “First, the company committed $1 million toward River Run, the next phase of development at RiverScape MetroPark. Now, the company again is helping us transform our center city into the type of vibrant, active place increasingly in demand today.

“We also thank our partners at the City of Dayton,” Gudorf added. “This project is sure to have a striking long-term impact on this entire section of downtown, as new development -- particularly new housing -- tends to lead to additional growth nearby. We are very excited about what this means for the future of our downtown.”

Read the complete Dayton Daily News story about the project here.

Press Release from ODJFS about Connecting the Dots TANF Demonstration Pilot

New Initiative Launched for Teens and Young Adults in Foster Care

COLUMBUS, OHIO − The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and Big Brothers Big Sisters are teaming up to launch a new initiative to help teenagers and young adults who have been in foster care transition more successfully to adulthood. “Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to Employment and Independent Living” will break down silos and bring together foster care caseworkers, staff at Ohio’s One-Stop Career Centers, Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors and Ohio employers, with the goal of helping teens in foster care prepare for work, vocational training or college, and independent living.

“For too long, children leaving foster care have had few places to turn and few people to lean on, but that is about to change,” said ODJFS Director Michael Colbert. “We have a unique opportunity to make a very big difference in the lives of teenagers and young adults who greatly need a place to turn, and greatly need positive adult role models to help give them confidence and show them the way to a brighter future.”

For younger teenagers still in foster care, Connecting the Dots will offer mentoring, educational supports and work readiness training, so that if they do turn 18 before finding permanent homes, they will be better prepared for life on their own.

For older teenagers and young adults, it will offer improved independent living and employment services so that they will have more support, more guidance, more connections and more knowledge as they transition to work, vocational training or college, and independent living.


“The statistics are eye-opening,” said Edward N. Cohn, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio. “Foster care youth face some of the most difficult odds in our communities.”
“We are pleased that through Connecting the Dots, our partner Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in the pilot communities are teaming up with ODJFS to provide needed support for these at-risk youth,” continued Cohn. “Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation’s oldest and largest mentoring network, has a track record of positive outcomes in children, and we will be bringing our in-depth mentoring experience and statewide Ohio presence to this relationship with the goal of helping foster care youth prepare for a successful future.”

Connecting the Dots will operate as a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families demonstration project at five pilot locations: Cuyahoga, Lake, Summit and Hamilton counties, and a collaborative including Montgomery, Preble, Clinton and Greene counties. Best practices learned in the pilot counties will be shared with counties across the state.

Approximately 1,000 to 1,300 young people in Ohio age out of foster care each year. Nationally, 81 percent of males formerly in foster care are arrested by age 24, 48 percent of females become pregnant by age 19, 33 percent of former foster youth have household incomes below the poverty level, 25 percent have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (compared to 15 percent of Vietnam War veterans), and 22 percent have experienced homelessness.

In fact, 40 percent of America’s adult homeless population spent some time in foster care. By providing better support to the 24,000 young people nationally who age out of foster care each year, it is estimated that more than $5.7 billion could be saved over their lifetime.

On July 25, ODJFS will sponsor the second annual “Connecting the Dots Conference for Foster Care Teens and Young Adults.” Last year’s inaugural conference brought together 200 young people from across the state and featured seminars on employment, higher education, legal rights and personal health.

Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to Employment and Independent Living

Foster care initiative to ease shift to life on own.

Price, Rita. Columbus Dispatch, April 11, 2013.

A new partnership between the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Big Brothers Big Sisters is bringing together caseworkers, employment counselors and mentors to help teens and young adults who are moving from foster care to independent living.

The journey is rough for many: Among American males previously in foster care, 81 per-cent are arrested by age 24; 48 percent of the females are pregnant by 19; and 22 percent experience homelessness.

“The statistics for children who leave foster care without being adopted are dire, and that’s putting it mildly,” said Benjamin Johnson, Job and Family Services spokesman. “We know we can do better.”

The initiative, which is to start immediately, will use federal welfare money to serve about 300 young people in eight Ohio counties. This year, $1.8 million is available; about $2.6 million could be spent in 2014, and $2.5 million in 2015. As many as 1,300 young people in Ohio age out of foster care each year, typically at age 18.

The effort is a pilot project that first will operate in Cuyahoga, Lake, Summit and Hamilton counties, and as a collaborative effort in Montgomery, Preble, Clinton and Greene counties. Although Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio will oversee the mentoring, Franklin is not among the pilot counties.

“We’re certainly hoping that we’ll get some really positive results, and we’ll see it expand throughout the state,” said Mary Palkowski, spokeswoman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio.

The program — Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to Employment and Independent Living — aims to connect vital services that, too often, remain fragmented and out of reach for many current and former foster youths. For those still in care, the initiative is to offer mentoring, educational supports and work-readiness training. Older teens and young adults are to receive improved independent-living and employment services so that they can make the transition to work, vocational training, college and independent living.

Portions of the grants will be used by local Workforce Investment Boards to handle the employment component.

The funding is in addition to the $5.9 million per year in federal money that Ohio budgets for independent-living services for foster youths.

“For too long, children leaving foster care have had few places to turn and few people to lean on, but that is about to change,” said Michael Colbert, director of the state Department of Job and Family Services.

Edward Cohn, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio, said statistics about foster youths are eye-opening. “Foster youth face some of the most-difficult odds in our communities,” he said.

Experts estimate providing better support to the 24,000 U.S. youths who age out of foster care each year could save $5.7 billion over their lifetimes.