2018 ODJFS All Staff Meeting ~ Youth Panel

The OHIO Youth Advisory Board had the honor of presenting during the ODJFS All Staff Meeting on Thursday, March 29, 2018.

Officers-in-Training Jewel Harris (Allen County) and Samantha Dillon (Athens County) talked about:

1.) Youth voice in Ohio’s implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act (which was passed and signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act on February 9, 2018), such as:

• Extending Chafee eligibility until age 23
• Extending ETV eligibility until age 26
• Recruiting more high quality foster homes, especially foster parents for teens and host homes for young adults
• Requiring groups homes and residential placements to be Qualified Residential Treatment Programs in order to be eligible for Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments (trauma-informed, nursing standards, inspections and monitoring) 

2.) Top youth concerns from the last statewide OHIO Youth YAB meeting were shared, including:

• Desire for one-on-one time with caseworker, and knowing the chain of command/next person to contact if unable to reach their caseworker directly
• Youth voice in the development of plans for their future (including roundtables and SARs)
• Youth voice in court - including sibling contact, decisions about visitation, and plans for reunification
• Normalcy (especially in group home settings)

3.) Appreciation for ODJFS support:

• Thanking ODJFS for updating Youth Rights Handbook
• Thanking ODJFS for being willing to update communication regarding NYTD to make the message more youth-friendly and explain why the questions are being asked, and to follow up with a list of resources 
• Appreciation for Bridges (with a special message from former OHIO YAB President Gabriel Young)