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Family Team Meetings Give Parents Important Voice in Ongoing Child Safety

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“Nothing about them without them.” With this mantra in mind, Franklin County Children Services takes a team approach when it comes to helping keep children safer while supporting families to make them stronger… and parents have an important voice in the process. As families become more involved in the child welfare system, FCCS organizes Family Team Meetings, where those who care most about a youth’s wellbeing can work together on finding the least intrusive, best-supportive plans for safety and stability. “Our families need to know they are not alone in their circumstances,” said Stacie Pelton, a Social Program Coordinator who facilitates many of the agency’s Family Team Meetings. “A team meeting is an opportunity for them to have all their support people communicating as team at the same time.”  In 2024, FCCS conducted more than 1,200 of these Family Team Meetings, bringing together family members, service teams, caregivers, and sometimes school counselors and guardians ad litem....
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Parenting Tips: Finding Trusted Adults Who Can

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CLICK HERE TO HEAR MORE TIPS ON WHY YOU SHOULD FIND A TRUSTED ADULT MENTOR FOR YOUR TEAN FROM BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS' VOLUNTEER ABBY FISHER Mentors can be an essential resource for parents and a way for teens to feel connected and have a sense of belonging, says Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio Volunteer Abby Fisher.  “Mentors are a great thing for everybody, and mentors are all around,” she explains. “It’s teachers, it’s coaches, it’s people in your community that you look up to that can help shape your attitudes, how you feel about certain things and model for you what’s possible. We say you have to see it to be it.” Mentors can be role models and cheerleaders for teens, listening and offering advice based upon their own experience. But to gain the best experience with a mentor, Fisher advises that parents take the lead.  She suggests “Aligning on what the expectations are, aligning on possible outcomes and where we want to see the greatest impact – those are great...
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Mental Health Clinicians Ready 24/7 to Support Youth in Crisis During Intake Process

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Supporting the mental health needs of children and teens while they await safe placement, Franklin County Children Services partners with the National Youth Advocacy Program (NYAP) to have trained mental health clinicians on stand-by 24 hours a day to de-escalate youth behavioral crisis, complete pre-placement assessments, and engage youth experiencing the trauma of removal. -- Every thirty minutes, clinicians like Misty Coleman and Mercedes Harris make their rounds at Children Services’ Intake and Assessment Center to connect with youth who have come into the building. They’ll talk with each one, asking about their needs: a shower, something to play with, maybe a snack, or just someone to listen. “We work hard to start building rapport and trust,” said Ms. Harris, a Clinical Supervisor.  “And we use music, TV, puzzles, and games to engage them,” added Ms. Coleman, the Program Manager of Emergency Stabilization Care. They are part of a team of dedicated mental health clinicians fro...
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Parenting Tips: Setting Healthy and Safe Boundaries

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CLICK HERE TO HEAR MORE TIPS ABOUT SETTING HEALHTY BOUNDARIES FROM ALL THAT'S DANELLA HICKS “I taught Sunday Schools for years, and what I realized was that my babies couldn’t read, they didn’t know what to do after they graduated, and they had lots of hurdles,” explains Danella Hicks.  This realization inspired her more than 15 years ago to start All THAT - Teens Hopeful About Tomorrow - a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring, encouraging, and supporting young people so they can succeed in school and in life.  Ms. Hicks knows all too well the odds stacked against her youth, noting that without this program, “our teens would probably end up either in the cemetery or jail.”  She mixes love and compassion with a dose of rules and expectations about commitment, attendance, and attitude, even insisting on a “no cell phone zone” when teens are engaged in programming. Teens are paid a bi-weekly stipend if they actively engage and show a positive attitude. Franklin County Children S...
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Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Get Access to Additional Supports with Levy Approval

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Many seniors and older adults in Franklin County are stepping up to become primary caregivers for their grandchildren or other young relatives, caring for some of the 2.7 million children nationwide who are being raised by older family members. And with the passage of the 2024 Franklin County Children Services Levy, more of those kinship caregivers are receiving an extra helping hand to cover some of the unexpected costs of caring for the children they love. “When we support caregivers, we strengthen our community and ensure that both the young and old can thrive together,” said Chanda Wingo, Director of the Franklin County Office on Aging.   This year, FCCS is doubling the amount of funding provided to the Office on Aging’s Kinship Incentive Program, now up to $600,000 each year, which should assist as many as 300 children each year. “Children Services understood the needs and recognized that if support was not provided to kinship families, the children were at risk of placem...
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Bringing Families Back Together: Family Visitation at FCCS

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Helping families rebuild, reconnect, and reunify is at the very heart of Franklin County Children Services’ core mission. “And visitation is a vital piece,” says Corey Leftridge, FCCS Family Services Supervisor.  “We help parents and children stay connected and build toward reunification, keeping that family bond despite the distance, despite the trauma, despite the crises they may be in.” FCCS’s Family Visitation team helps facilitate approximately 7,000 safe family visits annually. For many children in out-of-home placement, these visits are essential in building a safe, stable foundation for family reconnection and eventually reunification.  Every day, every visit, the Visitation team is there to help make this critically important work happen. For Mr. Leftridge, it’s all about maintaining that vital family connection and getting kids back home again whenever safely possible. “We try to encourage the families to do things that help them reignite their bond.” There are three...
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Parenting Tips: Cyberbullying, Sextortion Real Dangers for Teens

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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE TIPS FROM CHRIS VINEIS AT UNITE FOR SAFE SOCIAL MEDIA Social media platforms can lead to positive connections and learning experiences for young people. But, as pointed out by CEO and founder of Unite for Safe Social Media Chris Vineis, parents need to monitor and set rules for how often, how long, and where teens go online. And most important, don't dismiss the dangers of cyberbullying and sextortion by thinking they can't happen to your teen. Both are very real. Jon Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation says teens spend an average of 6-8 hours on screen-based leisure activities, with at least five hours a day on their favorite social media sites. Other studies suggest it's closer to seven.  With that in mind, there’s little doubt that adolescents are more preoccupied with TikTok and YouTube than homework, as Gallup found in a survey last year. “This type of obsessive behavior increases risks for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm and eve...
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