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How to be a Successful Mentor: Just Show Up

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Longtime Franklin County Children Services mentor Claude Russell III says the secret to successful mentoring is simple: just show up. It’s all about being together and building a relationship.  “Mentees just want your time,” he says. “They just want to be in your presence and see a person who cares. That is so easy to do.”  Mr. Russell, a Toledo native and OSU alum, has been an active part of FCCS’s Simba Mentor program which just celebrated its 36th anniversary. Simba is a culturally and gender specific mentoring program for African-American boys and African-American men.  “The love and the acceptance and the warmth that I’ve received in being a mentor has been unmatched,” said Mr. Russell, who recognizes that his life has been endlessly enriched by his longtime mentees - and now extended family - Seth (24) and Sebastian (18). Never forgetting the impact his mentors made on him as he was growing up, Mr. Russell wanted to pay this forward when he joined the Simba program. “It’s really
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For Grandparent turned Caregiver, Struggle is Worth It… and Why FCCS Levy Invests in Kinship

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While working two jobs and considering a third, Sonya Smith is raising her 16, 13, and 10-year-old grandchildren. Her 12-hour workdays are a struggle, she admits, but knowing the children have a safe home keeps Ms. Smith going. When children can no longer safely stay with their parents and need a place to stay, caseworkers at Franklin County Children Services first search for relatives and others close to the family - such as teachers, coaches, church members, neighbors, or family friends - who can provide a caring, familiar environment where the children might better cope with the trauma of separation.  Grandparents like Ms. Smith often are the first to step up to help keep kids safer. “I couldn’t see them going out into the world without my protection,” she said.   According to the national Annie E. Casey Foundation , more than 127,000 children in Ohio between 2020 and 2022 relied upon a family relative or other adult with whom they have a family-like relationship as their primary ca
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Protecting Our Future: A Decade of Promoting Infant Safe Sleep

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Marking ten years of empowering new parents with information on how to help their babies sleep soundly and safely, Franklin County Children Services celebrated National Infant Mortality Awareness Month in September with the unveiling of a new “ABCs of Safe Sleep Onesie.”  Both babies and community partners are loving it. "These are perfect gifts to educate families on safe sleep,” said Heidi Weaver-Smith, Executive Director of the Little Bottoms Free Store. “We are so grateful for our partnership with Franklin County Children's Services and their provision of Safe Sleep onesies to support our families.” Ten years ago, outreach staff at FCCS recognized the need for a tangible reminder to promote safe sleep practices. From the initial design phase to the distribution of the sleepwear, the goal has always been to keep infants aged 1 month to 1 year safer when they sleep.  The feedback from new parents, community partners, and caregivers has been overwhelmingly positive, reinforci
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Reception Center Offers Cooling Off Space for Families in Crisis

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When tempers and trauma reach a crisis point - and parents feel they have nowhere else to turn - sometimes families need a moment to “cool off” and reset the conversation. That’s when Franklin County Children Services relies on it’s partners at The Village Network’s Reception Center to provide a safe space where families can cool down, each person can be heard, and supports can be offered to help bring tensions down. “I feel like we’re offering hope,” said Marlene Sheaffer, regional director at The Village Network (TVN). “A lot of these families are feeling hopeless. They’ve tried different things, and they feel like nothing else is going to work. But if they give us one last chance, things can change.” For many years, FCCS has partnered with TVN to provide foster care, managed care, and respite services to families. In 2017, the partnership expanded to create a rapid response program aimed at youth ages 11 to 17 whose families were considering filing unruly or delinquent complaints wi
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Preserving Family Connections through Kinship Care

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It’s a sunny afternoon and the sounds of a sweet, bubbly preschooler playing outside fill what might normally be an air of silence - the cackling of joy and laughter that might not have been possible just a short time ago.  “He’s my little buddy,” says Lisa Todd, who got a phone call in 2020 that her infant cousin Jayvonta needed a temporary safe place to stay. Family means everything to Lisa, so there was no hesitation. And fast forward four years, Jayvonta is now a permanent part of Lisa's immediate family. When children can no longer safely stay at home with their parents, Franklin County Children Services prioritizes finding family-like settings to place youth and, when possible, in kinship-related homes. This would include family relatives - grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, or adult siblings - or close family friends such as teachers and coaches, church members, or neighbors. By keeping children connected to their family or the neighborhoods they are accustomed to, kin
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Record Crowds, Record Partners, Lots of Free Family Fun Highlight of 2024 FCCS FamJam Back to School Bash

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Kicking off the back-to-school season in a big way and with lots of free fun, Franklin County Children Services and KidsLinked.com teamed up with nearly 100 community partners and organizations to present the 2024 FamJam and Back to School Bash in August.  That’s the largest number of community partners who’ve joined in on this annual agency festival since its inception more than a decade ago. "We can't do this work alone. It takes the entire community," said FCCS Executive Director Chip Spinning. "It's great to have so many children and families coming out to participate in FamJam." This year’s event was also highlighted by record crowds of families and children from throughout Franklin County, with an estimated 8,000 people stopping by at some point during the three hours. More than 14,000 RSVP’d online to attend. For the second year, this free event filled Columbus’ Goodale Park. Among the community partners at FamJam this year were the Center for Family
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Former FCCS Youth Protects Her Country, Fights for Future Foster Teens

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For Private Second-Class Cynthia Louis Charles, this was no ordinary care package. In addition to a brand new pair of shoes, cleaning supplies, plus hair care and beauty products, the box included a framed photo of the Franklin County Children Services Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and a special message from FCCS staff and volunteers rooting for her success. A former foster youth, Cynthia now serves in the U.S. Army Reserve Command and is studying at Columbus State Community College to become a dental hygienist. She’s also a current member and past president of YAB and recipient of the 2022 FCCS Jack Donahue College scholarship. Her desire to be self-sufficient led Cynthia to join the military. A native of Haiti, her enlistment in the armed forces expedited her journey to becoming a U.S. citizen and offered financial stability, including additional funding for college. However, being in the Army Reserve Command has given Cynthia more than just security. She says it’s given her a foundatio
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