News from Franklin County Children Services

With budget cuts and a government closure at the federal level making access to food assistance more challenging for many people throughout our region, the Intake and Ongoing teams found a creative way to support families in our care who reported an urgent need for food.  Working with several teams across the agency, they compiled dozens of emergency food boxes that could be shared with families connected to our agency who needed immediate help. At the same time, a partnership with our Purchasing team helped to streamline the process for accessing vouchers to help families quickly go shopping for groceries. “These families are going through so much right now. Their life has already been uprooted,” said Family Services Director Emily Green. “Making sure families have their basic needs met was the most simple thing we can do.”  During the federal shutdown, food benefits though the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) weren’t distributed. Roughly 1 in 8 people in Fran...

Over the past twelve months, more than 180 children and teens in the care of Franklin County Children Services found safe, permanent placement with grandparents, relatives, or family friends… and FCCS celebrated these new “forever families” with its second annual Forever Family Fun Day. “We understand the responsibility and the amount of love and care that someone has to take on that commitment and to raise a child that is not their own,” said Sid Daniels, Associate Director of Kinship.   The work of the FCCS Kinship team to support these placements is part of the more than 300 total “forever families” for children in agency care finalized either through adoption or permanent kinship placement in 2025, according to Mr. Daniels. “We want to honor that,” he added. “We also want to make sure it’s fun.”  This year’s Forever Family Fun Day was held at Skate Zone 71 in late December, offering families connected to the Kinship and Adoption programs a free morning of skating and ...

For more than 50 years, the week leading up to Thanksgiving has been proclaimed National Family Week, a time to celebrate how our community can work together to make families stronger for longer, which is one of the best ways to keep children safer.  Joined by St. Stephen’s, Gladden, and Central Community Houses, Franklin County Children Services celebrated five families who participated in the Family-to-Family program and used the supportive services offered to overcome obstacles and achieve success. And the stories of their achievements - and of those caseworkers and community partners who supported them along their journeys - were powerful to hear. “Indica’s perseverance paid off through a combination of hard work, a few helping hands in the community, and the support of an organization that refused to let her fall through the cracks,” shared Marcellus Harris, caseworker at St. Stephens Community House, who help this mother and her children secure housing and stay employed durin...

While our agency has a wide array of service providers ready to help the children and families who come into our care, it can be tough for even the most-seasoned caseworker to remember all of the organizations and providers FCCS has contracts and contacts with.  So a collaborative effort between the Provider Services and the Evaluations teams has resulted in a searchable directory to make it easier to find what families need. “We are very resource rich,” said Jennifer Andria, Associate Director of our Placement & Provider Services team. “It’s always been a struggle to keep track of what’s going on in the community.’  The Community Provider Directory allows caseworkers to take full advantage of those resources by having them all in one place to access. “It’s a one stop shop to see what’s out in the community,” added Ms. Andria.   The portal includes a listing of more than 200 service providers that are contracted with FCCS as well as other community-based provider...

Hoping to instill more of the Team FCCS Culture from day one, New Employee Orientation has been updated to include new initiatives like the FCCS Way, our agency’s Calls to Action, and training on being Safer Together both physically and online. “We have to keep a pulse on what upper administration sees as the big picture,” said Amy Fields a trainer from the Professional Development team who’s worked with the curriculum for more than two years. All new employees go through the two-day orientation, designed to give an overview of the agency, its principles and policies, and employee benefits. Over the past several months, the team recognized a need to update the training to better reflect how FCCS has evolved its mission and message. “It’s just more organized, and it’s put in a way that’s easier to grasp at the fundamental level,” said Bethany Workman, one of the trainers for New Employee Orientation (NEO). She also noted how the updates align with our Call to Action on Valuing...

The National Partnership for Child Safety (NPCS) continues to grow in both membership and leadership.  This member-led quality improvement collaborative recently announced that Demetrius Starling, Senior Deputy Director of the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services’ Children’s Services Administration, was elected as a new Co-Chair, serving alongside current Co-Chair Chip Spinning, Executive Director of Franklin County Children Services. The Partnership also welcomed four distinguished leaders to its nine-member Executive Advisory Group: Dr. Alger M. Studstill, Jr., Executive Director of the Social Services Administration, Maryland Department of Human Services Ashley Deckert, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth & Families Donalda Charboneau, Director of Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services, North Dakota (elected to the Executive Advisory Group in May) Heidi E. Mueller, Director of the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services Together...