Adoption Special on Television Tonight

If you can, try to catch the 11th Annual “A Home for the Holidays” Adoption special at 8 p.m. tonight on CBS. The special is presented by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Children’s Action Network.

The heartwarming holiday special brings together all-star talent and shares the joy of adoption.

Hamilton County has more than 200 children available for adoption. You can see some of them at www.hckids.org. We would love to talk to you if you are interested — 946-1000!

Visit http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/Our-Work/A-Home-for-the-Holidays for more information about the special and the Dave Thomas Foundation.

Holiday Miracles for Foster Children

The true spirit of this community really shines during the holidays. Our agency has been on the receiving end of much giving this season and I would like to say a public thanks for the support.

Every year, we hold a holiday party for all of our foster children. This is the chance for little ones and teens alike to experience the joy of the holidays — something they may have missed growing up in difficult situations. Everyone comes together for music, games, food and gifts. It is incredible to see the smiles on their faces as they open their presents filled with dolls, games, Ipods, phones, etc. I love to hear their squeals of joy, especially the wide-eyed little ones when they see Santa.

This year, as in past years, the employees of Xerox helped with our celebration and donated gifts for the children. Also, Fifth Third Bank, the Health Alliance (Barrett Breast Imaging Center), Rockquest Climbing Center, Mariemont Community Church, the Foster Child Enrichment Council and the Kindergarten School donated items or money to make the event happen. In addition, the Coalition of Care, a group of local churches that has committed itself to our foster children and has done more for them than I could ever publicly recognize, worked with Montgomery Community Church to host the event and donated gifts.

In addition to the party, the Foster Child Enrichment Council makes sure all of the children who are involved with us receive a special gift for the holidays. Games, books, bikes — each child gets something from their wish list. This year, in addition to the FCEC, Our Lady of Rosary St. Mathias Church, Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co. LPA, Xavier University and our own Job and Family Services employees donated to make the holidays special for our children. I cannot thank them enough.

Spending any time away from your family — or not even really having a family — is traumatic for a child. The holidays are especially lonely. But because of the generous hearts of people throughout this community, our children get a few moments of joy each holiday season.

Recognizing a Total Team Effort

I am thrilled and humbled to have been recognized at today’s WE Celebrate, an awards event honoring women and women-owned businesses for their achievement, innovation, social responsibility and mentoring. More here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091209/BIZ/912100303/Chamber+honors+businesswomen

What an inspiring event! There is a lot of tremendous work being done in this community by outstanding women. I am honored to be among the crowd and tremendously grateful to be chosen Social Media Innovator of the Year.

Once again, I want to say this is really a team effort. I cannot take credit for this. I especially thank my team for recognizing the benefits of social media for an organization like ours. As a non-profit, Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services has to find inexpensive ways to get its messages to the public. This allows us to talk directly with our consumers, partners and the public.

Thanks again to everyone who helped in this effort!

Nearly 15 Years Later: Another Consolidation

Fifteen years ago this month, we were laying the groundwork for a major move from 628 Sycamore St. and other scattered locations to 222 E. Central Parkway.

It was, by far, the largest move in the history of the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services (then called the Department of Human Services).

Now, we find ourselves in the midst of another big move.

We are relocating all staff from 237 William H. Taft Road a second major location that opened in 1998 to 222 E. Central Parkway. We are moving them downtown because it is no longer economically feasible to maintain an office that is used by too few of our clients. The economic recession has greatly reduced tax revenues, the source of our operating funds, and we are making tough decisions to live within our means and remain a vital force in this community.

We are continually adjusting and adapting to live within our resources and provide services to the public in the best way possible. We are an agency with more than 60 years of serving the community a resilient one that takes every step possible to carry out our important mission. We look forward to serving your needs well into the future.

2009: Challenging, busy year

I just finished writing my final column of the year for our agency newsletter. I summed up some of the challenges and highlights from 2009. I know it is long, but I thought you might be interested. Here it is:

This is the final Update of the year and my opportunity to summarize the agency’s accomplishments in 2009. I am more proud than ever to talk about the positive things we have done to help this community.

This has been, perhaps, the most difficult year in agency history. Deep funding cuts from the state forced us to re-evaluate personnel, programs, services and much more. We reduced our staff by more than 700 positions. We were forced to shed non-mandated services and cut back on those that are mandated. We prioritized and focused on our mission, our mandates and what we do best.

Yet, through all the turmoil, we helped more people than ever. By the end of the year, about one in seven people in this community – 115,000 — received food stamps. One in six – 137,000 – received Medicaid. More than 14,000 children received subsidized day care. Another 25,000 received cash assistance. In some cases, these numbers are agency records. In others, they are post-welfare reform highs.

We have kept children safe and families fed. We helped the uninsured stay healthy. More than ever, we have been an agency that helps people when they needed help most.

But it was more than just providing services. We found new and better ways to do things. We formed new partnerships. We became leaders in innovation, quality and performance.

This agency was awarded four 2009 achievement awards from the National Association of Counties for innovative programs that contributed to and enhanced county government. Only 500 programs throughout the country were recognized, including 13 in Ohio. The awards received by this agency represent a tremendous achievement and are a testament to our dedication to continuously find new ways to help the citizens of Hamilton County to a better place in life.

Other highlights of the year:

• We launched the Higher Education Mentoring Initiative (HEMI) to help our foster youth graduate from high school and transition to higher learning by supporting them with a mentor.

• We launched a new discount card for prescriptions drugs that has helped more than 5,000 users save $100,000 on prescriptions.

• We had the highest payment accuracy rate in food stamps among the 14 largest urban counties in a six-state region of the Midwest.

• We met the child support paternity establishment benchmark of 80 percent for the first time. This allows for 100 percent reimbursement on federal dollars.

• The Public Children’s Services Association of Ohio chose our own Gail Merkle as Child Protection Worker of the Year and our foster family, Robin and David Steele, as Foster Family of the Year.

• We have found new and innovative ways to communicate to our clients, our partners and the public. We now have weekly online chats about various subjects. Our Child Support unit takes online questions during certain hours of the week. We distribute information via Facebook, Twitter, audio podcasts and I have even started a blog. We have been recognized locally, statewide and even nationally for our innovative communication methods.

Many more good things have occurred at this agency throughout the past year. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the face of drastic budget cuts and the current economic environment. I hope this recap proves we have been doing far more than just treading water and that the citizens of Hamilton County are better off because of services we deliver to our community.

Enjoy your holidays. I wish you and your families a peaceful new year. Here’s to a better 2010!

Mass Adoption Ceremony is Special Day

2008 Hamilton County mass adoption

Tomorrow is a big day for our agency and a huge day for five children in our care.

Those five children, all victims of abuse and neglect, will officially join permanent, loving families in Hamilton County’s third annual mass adoption ceremony to celebrate National Adoption Month.

The ceremony takes place at Hamilton County’s Probate Court. I really appreciate Judge Cissell hosting this event each year. This year, we are live streaming the event, so you can watch from your home or desk. Tune in before 9 a.m. by clicking on the link below:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hamilton-county-jfs-adoption-day

This is one of the most exciting times of the year for me and for our staff. This is the culmination of a tremendous amount of work to find the right family for a child who has experienced a tough life. Seeing that work result in an emotional, touching ceremony is an uplifting moment for our staff.

Hamilton County investigates more than 6,000 reports of child abuse and neglect a year. When intensive services fail and a child can no longer remain safe in a parent’s care, the county will seek custody of the child and attempt to find a safe and loving adoptive home. That sometimes takes months or years.

The agency currently has more than 200 children available for adoption. The Nov. 20 ceremony stands as a symbol for all of the adoptions we do – more than 70 so far in 2009.

All of this year’s adoptees will permanently join the foster families who have cared for them most, if not all, of their lives. Included:

● A 1-year-old boy who will join three biological sisters who were adopted by their foster family last year. The legally blind, but very bubbly, child has three big sisters who enjoy helping mom and dad with feedings, play time, reading books, etc.

● A 1-year-old boy who came to live with his foster family straight from the hospital. He will join two older biological siblings – twins — who have previously been adopted by his foster family. The adoptive family has also formed a relationship with another adoptive family caring for the older biological siblings of their three children.

● A 4-year-old boy who is being adopted by the foster parents who have loved and nurtured him most of his life. He joins three other adoptees in the family.

● A 1-year-old boy who will join two older brothers in a foster family that has cared for him for almost his entire biological life.

● A 1-year-old boy who is being adopted by biological relatives who have fostered him since he left the hospital. The boy has thrived in the loving care of his new parents.

If you are interested in adopting or becoming foster parents can learn more at www.hckids.org or by calling (513) 632-6366 or e-mailing adoption@jfs.hamilton-co.org .

Concerned about H1N1 flu

Did you know that Hamilton County JFS’ Child Care staff assists eligible low and moderate-income families across the county with finding and paying for child care? Parents can choose from a list of more than 1,500 home providers and centers that contract with the county.

So we’re especially concerned about the H1N1 flu outbreak.

To help child care providers and families better understand the virus, we’ve added links to several fact sheets and Web sites to the Child Care section under Services on www.hcjfs.org. Here’s a direct link: http://www.hcjfs.hamilton-co.org/Demo/services/childcare/H1N1.htm

Also, we recently interviewed the Hamilton County Public Health’s director of nursing and child care health consultant for southwest Ohio on the agency’s BlogTalkRadio show. You can listen to the 15-minute program at your convenience here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Hamilton-County-JFS/2009/11/13/H1N1-flu-Information-for-Child-Care-providers

We encourage child care providers and parents to educate themselves about H1N1 to do all that they can to protect their children from this illness.

Team Effort Leads to Recognition

I feel very honored today to find out that I am among several local outstanding women chosen as finalists for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s WE Celebrate awards honoring women for their achievement, innovation, social responsibility and mentoring. I cannot say enough: this is a team effort!

I was chosen as a finalist in the Social Media Innovator of the Year category. As you can see here, this year’s finalists contains an incredible group of women. I was surprised and feel very fortunate to be among them.

My passion for social media is an offshoot of my passion for transparency and accountability. Our customers, the providers we work with, the taxpayers who fund us — they all deserve to know what we are doing and why we are doing it.

As a non-profit, Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services has to find inexpensive ways to get its messages to the public. Social media is the perfect vehicle for an organization like ours. Our communications group has embraced it with passion and I have done all I can to support those efforts. It is nice to receive recognition, but this is truly a team effort. Thanks to all who have contributed!

Food Assistance Recipients Look Familiar

This story on today’s food assistance recipients echoes what we are seeing at our agency. They are increasingly someone you know.

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=cincinnati&sParam=31959665.story

About a third of the food stamp recipients we see now have not been to our office before or have not been there in at least five years. These are people who have had jobs that have enabled them to make ends meet, but today’s economy has put them in a situation where they need help with food.

Some have lost their jobs. Others have jobs that just don’t pay as much as before. It is important to note that most of the people who receive food assistance work. They just do not earn enough to pay for
everything and have to make tough choices — do I put gas in the car or buy groceries this week?

One in seven people in this county now receives food stamps. That is more than 110,000 people. I know there is a stereotype out there about the people who receive help from Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services, but that statistic should tell you the stereotype is wrong. We are helping your neighbors, co-worker and some of the families at your children’s school.

National Adoption Month: Good Things for Children in Our Care

Later this month, we will celebrate National Adoption Month with a mass adoption ceremony at Hamilton County’s Probate Court. Several children will join new families on Nov. 20.

This is one of the most exciting times of the year for me and for our staff. Often, this is the culmination of a tremendous amount of work to find the right family for a child who has experienced a tough life. Seeing that work result in what is often an emotional, touching ceremony is an uplifting moment for our staff.

Hamilton County investigates more than 6,000 reports of child abuse and neglect a year. When intensive services fail and a child can no longer remain safe in a parent’s care, the county will seek custody of the child and attempt to find a safe and loving adoptive home. That sometimes takes months or years.

The Nov. 20 ceremony stands as a symbol for all of the adoptions we do – so far 70 in 2009.

We also have several adoption-related events planned for this month to say thanks to our adoptive parents, several appearances on local media outlets and you will see us out and about beating the drum on adoption because we still have more than 200 children who need adoptive homes.

Among the events:

• A skating party on Nov. 7 from noon to 3 p.m. at The Skatin’ Place in Colerain. Not only is this a chance for many of our kids to skate, we will use it as a recruitment event for prospective adoptive parents.

• An adoption appreciation event for our adoptive families and children at the Jewish Community Center. The Amazing Portable Circus will be on hand for kids to enjoy carnival games, dancing, music, an aerial show, food and more!

• An official proclamation from the Hamilton County Commissioners proclaiming November National Adoption Month in Hamilton County.

I urge you to take a quick look at our foster care and adoption Web site, www.hckids.org, and see all the cute, smiling children who are still waiting for homes. Some are growing old waiting for a home to call their own. It is heartbreaking.

Yes, many of them have issues because of things that have happened in their lives, but many of them are just children who need someone loving to help and guide them. Even those with issues could overcome and thrive with the right kind of love and support.

If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting, please contact us by phone, (513) 632-6366, or e-mail, adoption@jfs.hamilton-co.org.