News from Franklin County Children Services

Each year, Franklin County Children Services is relied upon to help more than 26,000 children and their families through prevention, protection, placement, and permanency programs, offering services and supports to keep children safe and families together. And in 2024 - four years into the historic impacts on child welfare exposed by the COVID pandemic - Franklin County Children Services is positioned to further evolve how this agency truly keeps children safer and makes families stronger for longer. Think how different our lives, our agency, and our world feels from just four years ago. Think about how family structures have changed, and how the challenges that all parents face seem far different and much more complicated.  Add in the mental health crisis gripping so many of our young people… the stressors of violence and guns in our neighborhoods… the uncertainties of our economy and workforce… and the child welfare safety net stretched thin, trying to keep young people from...

As a recognized leader in innovation in Ohio’s child welfare efforts, Franklin County Children Services is at the forefront of a new partnership to more quickly and efficiently receive reports of child abuse or neglect from teachers, nurses, and child care providers. The TEAM Ohio portal - short for Taking Early Action Matters - is an advanced online reporting system for mandated reporters who are required by law to report suspected instances of abuse and neglect, according to FCCS Screening Supervisor Erica Davis. Still in the pilot phase, FCCS is partnering with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services as well as child service agencies in Fairfield, Stark, and Summit counties to test the online portal which collects information that screening decision makers need to investigate cases of suspected abuse. "The portal is really easy to use and provides a lot of information which is critical for us to know," Ms. Davis said. Also partnering in this pilot effort are referra...

The National Partnership for Child Safety (NPCS), a quality improvement collaborative with a mission to improve child safety and prevent child maltreatment fatalities, provided its year end update on partnership activities related to strengthening families and promoting safety science and innovations in child welfare. The NPCS currently includes the participation of 38 state, county and tribal child and family-serving child welfare jurisdictions - including Franklin County Children Services - who are assessing and applying safety science principles in their agencies.  The growth of the partnership now reflects a footprint of public child welfare agencies that represent nearly 70% of families involved with the child welfare system nationally. Jurisdictions new to the partnership over the past year include: The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services; the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services; the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services; the Washoe County (NV) H...