News from Franklin County Children Services

Finding lifelong, lasting family connections for children is all in a day’s work for adoptions assessor Liska Hall, a 26-year veteran at Franklin County Children Services. And in March, this exceptional child welfare professional reached a remarkable milestone, facilitating her 500th adoption.  “I have loved being able to provide permanence for 500 kids,” she said.  “I love that I will be the last social worker that they will have and that they will go on and have typical lives without caseworkers involved. I love it when the family is so happy and excited about the adoption and that this child is now theirs, forever!”   Going into the child welfare field made perfect sense to Ms. Hall, who was the first person in her family to attend college. She notes that she’s always been the kind of person who has looked out for others.  “I was a ‘social worker’ in high school,” she recalled. “I was the mom of the group, making sure everyone got home safely. None of my frie...

Compared to White children, Black children are two times more likely to be referred to child welfare on concerns of abuse or neglect and two-and-a-half times more likely to have that report screened in for investigation. This type of disproportionality is one of the reasons Franklin County Children Services is committed to identifying, developing, and training our Team FCCS on best practices in cultural competency. FCCS requires all staff to attend at least six hours of cultural training each year. At the same time, the agency’s Organizational Health Department and Multicultural Development Team (MDT) work together throughout the year to offer to staff dozens of professional development opportunities around culture and community.  “We want to ensure that our services and practices meet the needs of the families we work with by educating our staff on an ongoing basis,” said Asia Davis, associate director of Organizational Health.  “We try to tailor our training around what’s go...

For any family or young person, the fear of losing your home can create life-alerting instability and trauma. That’s why Franklin County Children Services works closely with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) to build a foundation for future housing stability. Last year, FCCS collaborated on 25 housing choice vouchers through HUD’s Family Unification Program to provide stability for youth leaving foster care and for families for whose lack of stable housing became a barrier to child safety.  “Without this program, we might never be able to close some of these cases, because it would be very hard for families to find housing for themselves,” said FCCS Caseworker Vilma Lobo, recognizing that the vouchers are a huge benefit for families who have completed their case plans and just need a safe place to live to be reunified.   Obtaining stable housing is vital to keeping families together, especiall...

Two lifelong Central Ohio community leaders - both committed to advocating for children and families - have joined the Franklin County Children Services Board. Jamie Shumaker and Napoleon Bell were appointed by the Franklin County Commissioners to fill out the 11-member volunteer board which governs the agency.  Ms. Shumaker, a political liaison and Executive Director of the Central Ohio Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said this was an easy choice for her when she was approached. “Children are always the thing for me,” she said. “I’ve worked on WIC (Women, Infants and Children) issues for 19 years, and I once ran for school board. I believe in making everything better for children and neighborhoods.” At the AFL-CIO post, she helps labor unions build collaborative relationships with government and community leaders. Previously, she served as the President for AFSCME Local 2191, as a Code of Conduct Compliance Designee with the Central Ohio Labor Council, as a Secretary-Treasurer of the Cent...