Facebook Can Be Your Source for JFS-related News

If you are looking for a job, you may want to follow our SuperJobs Center Facebook page. We often post hiring events and open jobs on that page and you will be alerted with each post.

In fact, our agency has three Facebook pages and they are all worth following for interesting news about jobs, job training, children available for adoption, public assistance changes and just about any other topic that is relevant to the work we do at JFS. We don’t just post about what is happening at our agency; we look for news that is relevant to the consumers we serve.

Below are the links to our three Facebook pages. Check them out and see the different kinds of news we share. Then, like us so you can get alerts when we post.

https://www.facebook.com/HCJFS

https://www.facebook.com/SuperJobs.OneStop

https://www.facebook.com/hcadopt

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New Initiative to Drive Child Support Payments, Family Bonding

We often hear from people who owe child support that they don’t want to pay because they don’t get to see their children. While we always point out  their required payments and their visitation rights are independent of each other, we are certainly sympathetic to parents who want to see their children but cannot come to an agreement with the other parent on how to do it.

Now, thanks to a $50,000 grant, we can offer safe, secure and private visitation rooms for parents paying child support to be able to visit with their children. The idea is that parents who are able to spend some time with their children will be more likely to consistently pay child support.

Sometimes the custodial parent doesn’t want to leave the child with the other parent, or they themselves don’t want to see the other parent. Sadly, soemtimes the two parents really do not even know each other well.

Under the grant, court magistrates will refer these parents to us for visitation arrangements and we will arrange supervised visitation or drop off at the Family Nurturing Center, which already handles our Children’s Services visitations. FNC will provide both a secure pickup and drop-off point, separate from the non-custodial parent entrance, and supervised visitations when necessary.

We believe this new initiative will both increase child support collections and improve bonding between non-custodial parents and their children.

Suspect Child Abuse? Don’t Hesitate!

Reporting suspected child abuse is a life or death decision.

We work very hard to protect the children of this community, but we cannot help a child if we do not know something is happening.  And often, we do not know.

There are more than 200,000 children in this community and we have a little more than 200 Children’s Services workers. The sheer magnitude of possibilities requires us to rely on members of our community to be our eyes and ears when we are not around.

We often hear, after a tragic situation, that someone knew something was going on, but didn’t report it to our 241-KIDS hotline. I hope I can convince you to take that next step if you ever find yourself in that situation.

Some of our worst abuse cases involve children who are too young to tell us what is happening to them. They cannot reach out for help.

But someone sees that child on a regular basis. They see the bruises and hear the questionable excuses. They notice the child losing weight and hoarding food because she isn’t eating at home. They hear the screaming and crying coming from their neighbor’s house.

Whether it be a neighbor, child care provider, teacher, doctor, aunt, uncle, family friend – someone knows something isn’t right with that child.

We need them to pick up the phone and call us.

Child abusers go out of their way to hide their actions. It is unrealistic to believe that someone who would beat an innocent child would do it openly, or tell the truth about it happening.

We launched the Do, Ask, Do Tell public awareness campaign in 2011. The campaign was aimed at encouraging legally-mandated reporters to call us when they suspect abuse. But it was also a call out to the whole community to call 241-KIDS if they saw anything that, in their gut, made them suspect abuse.

Nine out of 10 cases of child abuse go unreported, according to recent studies. Approximately 2,500 Hamilton County children are found to be victims of child abuse and neglect each year, so that number would skyrocket to more than 20,000 if studies hold true.

This is unacceptable. Help us. Join us. Call us.

Generous Donation Could Save Lives

The Jean-Robert and Annette de Cavel Family SIDS Foundation has donated $8,000 to our Help Me Grow program to help low-income families obtain cribs for their children.

This is a tremendous gift! The Help Me Grow program, which is contracted through us and operated by the Department of Developmental Disabilities Services, will purchase 114 cribs with the money.

Every year, reviews of child fatalities in Hamilton County show that unsafe sleeping arrangments may contribute to some deaths. In the past five years, they may have contributed to as many as 75 fatalities.

I am extremely grateful to the de Cavels for their generous gift. It is nice to know people in this community support the work we do, and even better to know 114 families will have a safe place for their newborn to sleep. 

If this is a cause you support, the Foundation is holding its Family and Friends Brunch and Silent Auction on Oct. 14. Check out www.eatplaygive.net for more information.

Here’s the full press release on the donation:

http://www.hcjfs.hamilton-co.org/Buttons/Media/Pressreleases/2012/October/Press%20release_%20Crib%20Donation.pdf

Rising Number of Food Assistance Recipients Grabbing Attention

Did you know one in six Hamilton County residents now receives food assistance? Hopefully, if you follow our agency, you do. We have made a point of keeping people educated on this growing trend. The Cincinnati Enquirer published an article recently that brought it to the attention of many others.

I talk about it in this month’s issue of Update, our community newsletter. Check it out here, along with stories about child support visits, an adoption luau and other topics. Thanks for reading!