Ohio CPS News Archive

Clark homeschool leader pleased with new rules

by Mark McGregor

Home-schooled students in Clark and Champaign counties have new opportunities to participate in sports and other activities in their home district thanks to a new state law.

But some local public school leaders have questions about how it might be Incorporated into their current policies and what the law, which technically takes effect Sept. 29, means for fall sports, which begin several weeks before that.

springfieldnewssun.com

August 12, 2013

My Health Wealth Team Joins Forces with Organic Food Supplement Company

by Joining My Health Wealth Team

My Health Wealth Team has joined forces with an organic food supplement company located in Westerville, Ohio. My Health Wealth Team is an international organization led by Tom Gruber.

The company vision is to provide the highest quality nutritional products at affordable prices while offering a viable business opportunity that allows part time marketers to earn a full time income and full time marketers to earn a substantial residual income.

pr.com

July 13, 2013

Ohio Lawmakers Consider Homeschooler Property Tax Credit

by Isabel Lyman

Parents of homeschooled children will pay less in property taxes if a novel bill passes in Ohio. Senate Bill 127, which would become effective in 2014, would give homeschoolers a tax credit equal to the proportion of property taxes on their home.

Homeschool families and leaders have mixed thoughts about the proposal. Ohioans for Educational Freedom supports tax credits "since home educating families pay, unfairly, for public education in their property taxes," said Mark Stevenson, the organization's founder and director.

news.heartland.org

June 27, 2013

Tablet suite saves case workers their most valuable commodity

by Greg Crowe

Few employees have to be on the move as much as a government case worker in a county child protective or family services office. Unfortunately, many of these offices still use physical files that require the worker to return to the office.

In an effort to keep its employees' heads above the sea of paperwork and allow them to spend more time actually working on their cases, Fairfield County is turning to a mobility solution. Northwoods' Compass CoPilot suite seemed a logical choice -- and not just because the company is headquartered in the next county over (in Dublin, Ohio). The tablet app suite helps workers use their time most efficiently, by keeping notes, dictation recordings and photos all in one place and tagged by case.

gcn.com

April 16, 2013

Ohio AG releases recommendations for state foster care

by Bryan Cohen

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine released recommendations Monday from his Foster Care Advisory Group to encourage positive changes and focus on the safety and well-being of children in the foster care system.

The group convened in December to recommend solutions to issues raised at DeWine's Child Safety Summits held in eight cities throughout the state. DeWine held the summits and a day-long Foster Youth Symposium last year to discuss issues related to child safety and foster care.

legalnewsline.com

April 10, 2013

Foster parent arrested on child porn charges

by Brenna R. Kelly

A 64-year-old Independence man has been charged with possessing and distributing child pornography, and officials have called a meeting tonight for parents whose children may have had contact with him.

Authorities say Johnston was a foster parent and also was active in a Boy Scout troop or camp. Officials do not know which troop Johnston was involved in. At the meeting representatives from the NKY Children's Advocacy Center will talk to parents about how to approach their children about the possibility of inappropriate contact with Johnston.

news.cincinnati.com

April 8, 2013

Children Services handling more abuse with less funding

by Kate Malongowski

IMA - Despite $1.7 million in cutbacks since 2007, Allen County Children Services has been able to handle an increasing number of child abuse and neglect reports, according to a 2012 Annual Report released Wednesday.

"We knew when the economy was starting to falter, people were starting to lose jobs, we knew to expect an increase," Ferris said. "We didn't know how much, but an increase was coming. So as we had openings developing in the agencies, that had reduced funding; we had been able to restructure accordingly so that we didn't see any decrease in front-level program staff."

limaohio.com

March 28, 2013

SPECIAL REPORT: Children of the heroin curse

by Sheila McLaughlin

Patti Jacobs first saw it on Christmas Eve 2007. She was called into the office at Warren County Children Services, where a handful of crying small children had been taken away from their parents, who had been busted for heroin trafficking.

That marked the beginning of a surge of heroin-related cases at Warren County Children Services. "And it's gone downhill ever since. We are just inundated with these children. It's horrific," Jacobs said. In Warren County - a primarily white, upscale area - only 6 percent of the cases in 2008 referred for ongoing services were related to heroin abuse. In 2011, that figure jumped to 73 percent. That's 106 cases involving 170 children.

masonbuzz.com

March 26, 2013

Lake Michigan, Lake Huron now at lowest levels on record

by Scott Sutherland

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as of Tuesday, water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have reached their lowest levels since record-keeping began, nearly 100 years ago.

Concerns had already been raised since the end of last summer, due to a combination of last year's warm, dry La Nina winter, followed by low rainfall amounts coming into the Great Lakes region due to the drought in the United States, and a late start to the snowy weather this winter. These natural effects are possibly enhanced by climate change, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to turn the global temperature up, however there is a more direct man-made reason that contributes to the low water levels.

ca.news.yahoo.com

February 10, 2013

Editorial: Cracks in Ohio foster care

by The Akron Beacon Journal

In any given month, roughly 12,000 children in Ohio are in foster care, separated from their biological parents for their protection. Fifteen percent of them spend four years or longer in foster care before they are reunited with family or are adopted.

Unfortunately, a growing number of the children, a higher percentage than the national average, reach age 18 and "age out" of the child protective system, without ever being adopted. The statistics suggest a rough transition to adulthood and independence for these young people who carry the physical and emotional baggage of family dysfunction. About 25 percent will not have earned a high school diploma at the time they can legally to be on their own. Fewer than 2 percent ever complete college. More than 50 percent will be homeless at least once; and about 30 percent of them will end up behind bars at some point.

limaohio.com

December 17, 2012

Group links kids, treatment foster parents

by Ed Runyan

Many people have heard of foster parenting and adoption of children through a county Children Services agency, but what is treatment foster parenting?

It's temporarily providing a home for a child who has emotional or behavioral issues, frequently brought on by abuse or neglect by their biological family. The requirements to be a treatment foster parent are: at least age 21; a strong support system to help cope with stress and crisis situations; transportation; and Ohio residency.

vindy.com

December 3, 2012

Children Services levy renewal on ballot

by Kathleen Folkerth

GREATER AKRON - Officials at Summit County Children Services (SCCS) are asking voters to renew the SCCS' existing levy for another six-year period in the Nov. 6 General Election.

The levy, according to SCCS Executive Director John Saros, provides 60 percent of the agency's operating funds. "It represents a whole host of programs that we are mandated to provide to the community, such as investigation, protective services, case management, placement, out-of-home care for children and foster and relative care, group homes, resident care - all those services we pay for," Saros said. "Beyond that, if a child is permanently legally separated from their family, we have adoption programs and independent living programs to help a child establish permanency in their lives."

akron.com

October 4, 2012

What does it take to pull a child from an filthy home?

by Chelsea Miller

ELYRIA - On July 5, when police found seven children living in a filthy house in Lorain, Lorain County Children Services acted quickly - obtaining emergency custody of the children and arranging for family members to care for them.

But as details of Children Services' involvement with the mother, Erica Perez, came out - that the agency had a long history with her and a caseworker just a few months earlier had noted dismal conditions in the home in a report - the question arose: Why were the children still there?

chronicle.northcoastnow.com

August 12, 2012