Ohio's First Youth Ombudsman

Ohio’s very first Youth Ombudsman, Jenny Stotts, was honored as one of Adoption Network Cleveland’s two 2022 Triad Advocates of the Year. She entered foster care as a baby, was adopted and her adoptive parents still serve as foster parents today. 

She and Assistant Youth Ombudsman Jeff Phillips would love our help in letting youth know about the Youth Ombudsman Office. Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies first began advocating for a Youth Ombudsman Office in 2018. We met with legislators, gave testimony, and worked with CDF Ohio to build up a coalition.  Let’s continue to spread the word, and let youth know how to contact the office.

Focus on Teen Moms in Foster Care

As a statewide OHIO YAB Ambassador, Kelsie Brown has initiated and followed through on designing this three-part video project to reflect the experiences of Teen Moms in Foster Care. This project is a work of love, based on her lived experience and her desire to proactively share resources with others.

Kelsie's hope is that this video will inspire foster parents to take in teens, and provide viewers with empathy when it comes to the experiences of a teen mom in foster care. For additional resources, please visit: www.fosteractionohio.org/teen-moms/ 

Part 1: What It's Like to Be a Teen Mom in Foster Care



Part 2: What Teen Moms in Foster Care Need From Their Foster Parents



Part 3: Teen Moms in Foster Care Have Rights and Resources 

October 2022 OHIO YAB meeting

Link to more photos.

2022 Victory: Establishing Ohio's first Youth Ombudsman Office

Jay and the Hamilton County Youth Advisory Board

Jay Brown is a former Hamilton County foster youth who is working behind the scenes to reignite and reinvigorate the Hamilton County Youth Advisory Board. 

Participation in a Youth Advisory Board:

• Helps young people in and from foster care develop leadership, professional, organizational and public speaking skills
  
  
• Provides them with peer support and opportunities to share their experiences in a strategic way to positively influences policies and practices that directly affect them

By being a part of the Hamilton County Youth Advisory Board, youth will become Resource Ambassadors to help other young people know where to turn when they need help and assistance. 

More than anything else, being a part of a Youth Advisory Board reminds young people of their strengths and capabilities. They are not victims of their experiences, but survivors and difference-makers who can help to smooth the path for young people who come after them.

Jay is currently seeking to identify staff members at public and private foster care agencies with whom she can communicate with about leadership opportunities for current and former foster youth (ages 14-24). She’s building up a directory of names, emails and phone numbers so that these staff members can let their youth know about YAB involvement and ongoing opportunities.

Stark Franklin Retreat

 

Youth Insights Regarding CST Juvenile Court-Related Recommendations

The OHIO YAB has a longstanding commitment to Youth Voice in Court, as exemplified by the photos below from the 2010 Judicial Teleconference, in partnership with the Ohio Supreme Court. 

Here is a summary of Ohio foster care youth and alumni input regarding the juvenile court-related recommendations included in the Children Services Transformation report. 

Link to more photos. 

The OHIO YAB established a partnership in 2021 with Ohio Legal Help, a two-year old non-profit organization that was established by the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation, the Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio’s legal aids, and other stakeholders in Ohio’s legal system. 

Ohio Legal Help was planning to create a special section on their website to support the legal needs of current and former foster youth, and invited feedback from current and former foster youth. 

Their new legal information hub for foster youth is now live, and includes: 

• Foster Youth Bill of Rights
• Foster Youth Rights in Court 
• Aging Out of Foster Care
• Child Welfare Investigations
• Changing Your Legal Name
• Getting Copies of Vital Records
• Sealing and Expunging Juvenile Record

Below are the Top 14 Legal Needs that were initially suggested by Ohio foster youth:

1.) Assistance in Accessing Benefits: Such as Medicaid to age 26, Social Security and/or other benefits for which they might be eligible. And being unsure whether they are allowed to apply for food stamps if they are in Bridges or enrolled in college.

2.) Custodial Issues: Former fosters seeking to maintain custody or contact with their children.

3.) Filling Out Forms: Assistance with leases, filing taxes, understanding the FAFSA, applying for Educational Training Vouchers, etc.

4.) Housing Issues: Avoiding eviction, handling landlord-tenant disputes, and how to address unsafe housing conditions (bugs, mice, mold or lead).

5.) Identity Theft: Foster youth are at high risk for identity theft because they frequently change placements, giving an expanding group of adults access to their personal information. 

6.) Legal Citizenship: Ensuring that young people don’t emancipate from foster care and then discover that they are not legal citizens. Young people who are abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents must apply for Special Juvenile Immigrant Status before age 21. 

7.) Name Change: Seeking a legal name change in order for their last name to match that of a siblings, or in order to not reflect an adoptive family if that adoption ended in dissolution.

8.) Protection Orders: Seeking a restraining order and other protections, when trying to escape an abusive relationship during young adulthood.

9.) Records: Desire to access their case file, ICCA form, school records, medical records, adoption records and/or desire to expunge a juvenile record.

10.) Rights Violations: Wanting to ensure that a prior abuser is no longer able to harm others.

11.) Sibling Connections: Assistance in contacting one or more siblings from whom they were separated.

12.) Vital Records: Assistance for young adults who do not have a birth certificate, Social Security card, and/or photo ID.

13.) Wage Issues: Young people who do not receive payment for work they did, and are unsure of how to seek recourse.

14.) Youth Voice in Court: Desire to have a voice in their case plan, transition plan, placement decisions, and/or staff annual reviews, and to be notified about and allowed to attend hearings and communicate with their judge. 

Youth Recommendations regarding Cuyahoga County

The Cuyahoga County Council is the legislative body of Cuyahoga County government, made up of 11 elected representatives from across the County. 

They have recently received updates from Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services regarding their proposed solutions to ongoing issues at the Jane Edna Hunter building. Their proposed changes include: pay raises, issuing a “no eject or reject” RFP, assigning a sheriff’s deputy to the building full-time, and considering reinstating the Metzenbaum Center back into a residential drop-off site. 

OHIO YAB Ambassador Regine Turner has been at the forefront of this issue for years. She participated in the protest on July 7, 2020, as referenced in the article: Demonstrators call for end to housing kids in county office building. Regine and others carried signs that said: 

• Where did you sleep last night???
• A building is not a home

OHIO YAB Ambassador Regine Turner has suggested that those with “lived experience” create their own list of recommendations to share with the Cuyahoga County Council.

Virtual meetings were held this month to further work on a list of recommendations to share with the Cuyahoga County Council, prior to their next meeting: 

Committee of the Whole Meeting
Event date: 9/22/2022-10:00 AM
Address: C. Ellen Connally Council Chambers-2079 East 9th Street, 4th Floor

2022 Foster Youth Rights Video

 

OHIO YAB Youth Ambassador Jonathan Thomas recently shared about the Foster Youth Bill of Rights and why having the right to privacy and personal belongings is so important.

Youth Concerns About County Hotlines and the Cuyahoga County Situation

Extending foster care to age 23 in the state of Ohio

Extending Foster Care to 23 discussion, facilitated by Dorothy Striker of ODJFS, OHIO YAB ambassador Raven Grice and foster care alumna Kim Rhyan

During the recent statewide OHIO YAB meeting, youth recommended that the state of Ohio extend foster care supports to age 23. They felt that extension of supports to age 21 was a good start, and that prolonging supports for two additional years would be a helpful steppingstone to create long-lasting change. 

Challenges that youth with a foster care history currently face when turning 21, and “aging out” eligibility for Chafee supports or the Bridges program include the following:

a.) Concerns about money and budget:

• Rising costs of food and transportation
• Driver’s license, parking fees, parking pass, how to find a care
• Unsure of where to live during dorm breaks

b.) Loss of caseworker support:

• Abandonment issues
• Quote: “It takes time to develop trust with Bridges worker.”
• Quote: “We rely on the system because we cannot rely on our family. Family isn’t always blood.”

c.) Concerns about lack of readiness and preparation: 

• Individual development accounts are only available in some counties
• Quote: “We have a lack of natural supports.”
• Quote: “There is a lot of stuff that no one teaches us.”
• Quote: “We don’t have everything figured out by age 21.”
• Quote: “We don’t have a lot of time to make mistakes and learn from them” in a safe environment that allows youth to learn by experience.

d.) Desiring two years of additional time to receive support with:

• Being able to afford food, clothes, a place to live, furniture, and utilities 
• Emergency funds when needed
• Help applying for things, including maintaining access to medical care
• Helping to find a college or university
• Making a summer plan
• Completing college before losing support
• Finding a job, including finding a job after completing college (this can be scary)
• Disabilities services
• Filing taxes
• Adapting to life as an adult
• Learning how to be a parent
• Reuniting with family and/or developing emotional supports
• Connecting with individual or family counseling services

Youth felt that extending this period of transition would help them to be more successful in young adulthood.  

Youth also talked about inflation, and asked, “Could there be increased funding through Bridges, due to increased cost of living?  Rent and utilities are super expensive, due to the inflation rate of over 9%. Could this lead to increased funding for Bridges?”

 

Youth Voice on Shared Practice Model

Shared Practice Model breakout session, facilitated by Scott Britton of PCSAO and foster care alumna Jaye Turner

During the recent statewide OHIO YAB meeting, youth suggested ways to better transition from one worker to another, to better support youth.

They asked if there could be any notice that their caseworker was going on extended leave, vacation or quitting. And suggested proactive ways to make this transition smoother such as an introduction, and an transition if possible – similar to how Bridges was designed to provide a “warm hand-off.”

Communication with Caseworker

• Need personal relationship with caseworker 
• Caseworkers please build a relationship with youth and get to know them and let them get to know you. Take the time to build that connection.
• Tell youth before change occurs
• Be timely!  Don’t leave youth waiting for info
• Urgency! (i.e. travel letters, Prom, expunge record)

Please Advocate on Youth’s Behalf

• Taking initiative
• Take action, speak up, even with supervisor
   

Listening to Youth

• “It might not seem big to you or the agency, but it’s big to us”
• Best interest of child/youth
• Respect that youth may not want to talk with bio parents
• “Just because we’re blood that doesn’t mean we are family” 
• Respect and ask about a youth’s chosen family, and the family members they feel safe with
• Honesty, don’t sugarcoat, youth are mature: “I would rather have the truth and be hurt by that” than the alternative
• Trust the youth, give them choice
• “We know our family” 
• Let youth have a choice about talking to family members, staying at a particular foster home, whether or not they want to be adopted
• Make it youth choice re: adoption; stop trying to force them
  
  

Need for Youth Voice on Shared Practice Model

• We need Shared Practice Model: better training, right motivation
• What is the worker’s “why?”
• Instead of saying families can heal, say that families can heal with the right support
• Families need concrete and economic supports
• Prevention is tied in with mental health and economics
  
  

Need for Agencies to Value Caseworkers

• Caseworker shortage, burnout is becoming the status quo
• 20 youth to one caseworker is a recipe for failure
• One youth shared concerns about overwhelming caseworkers with unrealistic deadlines.

Video Project to Support Teen Moms in Foster Care

OHIO YAB Ambassador Kelsie Brown has dedicated her utmost efforts towards the creation of a video about Teen Moms in Foster Care, and her son Braydon has also been a valuable - and patient - part of the process. 

Skateworld of Vandalia was the one place where Kelsie felt safe as a child. The owners of the rink allowed free use of their venue for filming this project, and even opened up early in the day so we had the entire rink to ourselves.

It was wonderful to have Kelsie’s former foster mom as part of the video, during the portion filmed at a local park that the three of them used to visit. Mrs. Andrea specializes in fostering teen moms, and when Kelsie was entrusted to her as a scared 16-year-old, Mrs. Andrea both reassured and empowered her. In Kelsie's words, "She supported me in being responsible as a mother, without making me feel alone."

Link to additional photos.

July 2022 OHIO YAB meeting

Link to more photos.

 

 

Virtual meeting with Ohio's first-ever Youth Ombudsman

Details forthcoming... 

Press release from CDF-Ohio about Ohio's first-ever Youth Ombudsman

Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio applauds Governor DeWine’s appointment of Jenny Stotts as its first Youth Ombudsman, a role dedicated to ensuring that the concerns of youth in foster care are listened to and resolved

COLUMBUS — Today’s announcement of Ohio’s first Youth Ombudsman by Governor DeWine is good news for youth in foster care across the state of Ohio.

Earlier this year, Governor DeWine signed H.B. 4, which established the role of the Youth Ombudsman, who is charged with investigating complaints made by youth in foster care and advocating for their best interest. The OHIO YAB (Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board), the statewide organization of young people (aged 14-24) who have experienced foster care, Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio (CDF-Ohio), and ACTION Ohio (Alumni of Care Together Improving Outcomes Now Ohio), were partners in the Youth Ombudsman advocacy campaign and are especially thankful for today’s announcement as the culmination of work by both groups and the fulfillment of a commitment by Governor DeWine, a longtime advocate for children in foster care.

“Stotts is a leader who demonstrates a sense of urgency when a young person’s concerns have not been addressed by those entrusted with their care. This role is critical, especially in instances where youth find themselves in an unsafe placement. We urge her to prioritize protecting youth from retaliation,” said Kim Eckhart of CDF-Ohio.

H.B. 4 requires that the OHIO YAB have input into the selection of the Youth Ombudsman. The OHIO YAB submitted this input during the selection process and welcomes the appointment of Stotts, who embodies their recommendations. They recommended that the leader be proactive in informing youth about the Foster Youth Bill of Rights and how this office can help to enforce those rights. At a minimum, they will have experience in advocating for youth who have experienced foster care, such as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). Also, they should have experience in investigations and understand the rules and laws of the child welfare system in Ohio, as well as the different processes among counties. The key recommendation is that youth can trust this person and recommend the office to their peers who are experiencing a situation of abuse or rights violations.

“Stotts served as a county CASA director and is someone who understands trauma and how it affects behavior. She is an adoptee who grew up with foster siblings. She has made it possible for foster youth to share their voice and insights on numerous occasions, and we trust and know that she will welcome their ongoing insights in the future,” said Lisa Dickson, co-facilitator of the OHIO YAB.

“Stotts moves with intentionality and consideration that will greatly benefit the youth this office will serve. We are excited to hear of her announcement and have faith she will bring that to the role,” said Deanna Jones, MPA, BSSW, LSW, Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio Consultant and former foster youth and caseworker.

The OHIO YAB and CDF-Ohio are hopeful that the Youth Ombudsman will serve to enforce the Foster Youth Bill of Rights and play a key role in educating youth about their rights. They urge the Youth Ombudsman to identify and advocate for system-level reforms to protect youth. They see this role as a key part of holding the system accountable and making the system more responsive to youth needs from the youth’s perspective.

Press Release from the Governor's Office regarding Ohio's first ever Youth Ombudsman

Governor Appoints Two Ombudsmen to Lead New Office

May 19, 2022

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Governor Mike DeWine today announced the selection of two individuals to lead the Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office.  Jenny R. Stotts will serve as the first-ever Youth Ombudsman, while Jennifer A. Sheriff will serve as the first-ever Family Ombudsman. The office, a recommendation included in the Children’s Services Transformation Advisory Council’s Final Report, will be housed in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and is set to open May 31, 2022.

“Members of the Children Services Transformation Advisory Council heard over and over again from foster youth, former foster youth, and families that  separate, independent ombudsmen were needed to listen, investigate, and find solutions when there are concerns,” Governor DeWine said. “I am proud that we are enacting this recommendation, and I am confident that this new office, combined with other council recommendations, will help Ohio better serve kids and their families.”

On February 28, 2022, Governor Mike DeWine signed Amended House Bill 4 into law, creating the Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office. The office, which consists of both a Youth Ombudsman and a Family Ombudsman, will ensure the independent and impartial review of youth, family, and community complaints and concerns, while attempting to resolve the issues.

Prior to accepting the Youth Ombudsman position, Stotts served as the Executive Director of the Athens County Court Appointed Special Advocates/Guardian Ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Program and the Regional Coordinator of CASA in Southeast Ohio. Her professional experiences include direct practice in child protective services as a caseworker and forensic interviewer. Stotts also served in workforce preparation as part of the University Partnership Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Program (UPP). Stotts is a licensed social worker.

Family Ombudsman Sheriff most recently served as the Lucas County Child Protection Ombudsman. After graduating from law school in 2008, she spent the next eight years prosecuting criminal cases with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Beginning in 2016, she managed a challenging child abuse and neglect caseload as an Assistant Attorney General representing the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

“Having been a foster parent, I know the value in an office dedicated to helping both youth and families,” said ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder. “The Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office, and our recently published bills of rights for foster youth and resource caregivers, are examples of how we can empower families and make the system easier to navigate.”

Damschroder also announced that in addition to the appointment of the Ombudsmen, Rachel Selby has been selected to serve as State Liaison for the office. In her role, she will serve as a liaison between the office and its stakeholders to grow awareness about its services. Selby has a Masters of Humanities and most recently served as Philanthropy Officer for Dayton Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Governor DeWine created the Children Services Transformation Advisory Council in late 2019 to hear directly from those who have experienced the children’s services system first-hand and make recommendations to help children’s services better meet the needs of the families they serve. Following 10 field hearings, the council issued their final report that included 37 recommendations. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has fully implemented or has made significant progress in implementing 36 of the recommendations to ensure lasting change for Ohio’s children and families.

Virtual meeting with Director Hauck, thanks to Disability Rights Ohio

The OHIO YAB and ACTION Ohio are seeking to make child welfare more disability competent and vice-versa. We want foster care youth and adults with a foster care history to know who to contact, what the resources are, and how to navigate them.

Thanks to support from Disability Rights Ohio, we were able to participate in a virtual meeting with Director Hauck and her staff on Wednesday, May 16, 2022.

During the call, we mentioned that we would love to invite Director Hauck’s statewide leadership when it comes to establishing additional conduits for these two systems to coordinate with one another such as:

• Establishing a statewide team to focus on coordination of care for foster youth with disabilities 
• Developing ongoing cross-trainings that  include disability service providers and child welfare staff.

It’s important to note that: 

• Our “ask” is specific to foster care youth (not the broad term: “multi-systems” youth) 
• Because our population has specific needs, and current/former foster youth are eligible for specific resources. 
• We want to ensure that current and former foster youth, and their service providers, are aware of those resources, especially since many of them are time-limited.

Regine, Juliana and Laquita shared powerfully about: 

• The disconnect between systems, and the need to ensure better coordination between developmental disability systems and foster care systems. 
• The need for developmental disability service providers and agencies to have a better understanding of trauma and the unique needs of foster youth.
• Stable housing, and holding providers accountable for youth in care when involving a 30-day notice, and youth having to find somewhere to go.
• It is incredibly traumatizing to come from the foster care system, which bounces you around, and then experience housing stability afterwards.Not being able to access certain services because of different funding. 

• Challenges faced when it comes to:
• Delay in being diagnosed (i.e. with dyslexia) as a teen in foster care. Better communication between systems could make more timely identification possible.
• Being determined to be eligible for services within the developmental disabilities system including when childhood documentation is difficult to locate or no longer exists (i.e. records only having a 10 year retention period).
• Barriers in being able to access services within the developmental disabilities system

• How overwhelming it is as a former foster youth with no family support to:
• Face these issues personally
• Seek to provide care for a sibling, with no additional family support to rely upon

One commitment that ACTION Ohio can make is that our website includes pathfinders for various resources, and we would love to work with Disability Rights Ohio and members of Director Hauck's team to create one or more pathfinders to assist in navigation. 

It was wonderful to learn about the dedication that Director Hauck's team has to providing technical assistance as needed, and we would love to learn more, create infographics in order to be of support, and also have a contact person on her team to reach out to as needed for technical assistance and questions. 

Youth Presentation for the Ohio Citizen Review Panel

Kelsie, Raven and Miatta did a wonderful job!!

Comments from participants including the following:

• Thankful to be able to hear from YAB. Is there a process for a youth to contest the accuracy of data on a form

• The lack of context on the form and deficits-based framing is SO problematic. If any of us had a list of all of our worst/hardest moments following us around; it would cause so many challenges. Thank you so much for bringing this information forward.

• I am thinking of training we did in DV on Trauma-informed documentation. Likewise, when it comes to Domestic Violence, we understand and are careful to document when a person uses "resistive violence." Finally, I think additional to a trauma-informed lens, and context lens, these need to be completed using a child/youth dignity lens.

• I appreciate the “braces” example because working with foster youth, so much of what is written is often out of date but appears current. Some of the best foster parents, I haver discovered, are ones that don’t completely believe what’s written and I’m sure our presenters' examples plays a part in foster parents who prefer to see to believe.

• I think it’s within ODJFS’ power to make major changes to this document - doing so could change lives.

• The overcoming of adversity needs to be documented as well.

Youth Recommendations for Post-Reunification Support

During the April statewide OHIO YAB meeting, youth participated in a breakout session to share their experiences regarding reunification.

1.) What went well prior to reunification: "Receiving life skills classes while in foster care, being able to complete high school and preparing to go to college."

2.) What didn’t go well when preparing for reunification: "Being sent back to the same situation. The problems didn’t change. No therapy within the family. I didn’t have enough resources. Lack of engagement with all of the parents."

3.) What would have been helpful: "Getting access to more resources and skills. Having an attorney for the child. Having supports; I didn’t have any when I was reunified with my biological family and foster care was over.”

4.) Needs once reunified: What supports did you get? "Family but family was limited. I was still eligible for the therapeutic arts program. I received supports in getting a job."

5.) Needs once reunified: What supports didn’t you get? "No family support. Family support needs to include therapy and developing a skillset to do better. No help with job, child care or independent living post-reunification."

6.) What is needed post-reunification? Youth recommended the following:

• Caseworker check-ups post-reunification
• Follow ups at the 3,6, and 12 month marks
• Feelings of freedom/independence during foster care
• More family participation in therapy prior to reunification
• Stability when it comes to the biological home situation
• Family goal setting
• Goal setting when it comes to what will benefit the youth

7.) Additional notes from youth discussion:

• Lack of support and resources after being returned to their biological home
• Fear of returning to bio home based on past experience
• Afraid of change, nervous
• Not eager to return to a situation of chaos, appreciate structure that their foster placement provided
• Fears about lack of support during journey into young adulthood
• No therapy for family
• Request from youth: "Don’t just close the case."
• Discussion of the importance of goal setting and life skills
• Desire for the system to do more to: "Prepare youth for reunification."
• Have an advocate for the child or teen
• After care supports
• Limited bio family resources
• Extracurricular activities and child care
• Lack of stability (constant moves)
• Not just sweep family issues under the rug

Alexys Madero presents for CASA Day in Athens County

Alexys Madero was invited by Athens County CASA Director Jenny Stotts to present during the "Let Childhood Bloom" celebration of Athens County CASA. For 29 years, Athens CASA has partnered with trained community volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children and teens who have experienced abuse and neglect.

As a former foster youth, Alexys is a powerful statewide voice to improve outcomes for others. She serves as a youth ambassador for the Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board (OHIO YAB), and is the former President of the Franklin County Youth Advisory Board. 

Due to her accomplishments, Alexys received Jack Donahue Scholarship and was chosen to represent the state of Ohio during a virtual national meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Alexys' presentation experience includes serving as a panelist during a virtual training for Franklin County CASAs and GALs on May 19, 2021. Participant feedback was that this was “one of the most powerful testimonies they had ever heard from teens/young adults.” 

Alexys recently presented during the Inspiring Action Virtual Summit: Supporting Educational Stability for Youth in Foster Care on April 6, 2022. This event brought together educators, agency leaders, providers and caregivers from across the state. 

As a result of both of these trainings, participants followed up by connecting youth with the OHIO YAB, advocating for youth to be provided copies of the Foster Youth Rights Handbook, and learning more about the Every Student Succeeds Act.

  

April 2022 OHIO YAB Meeting

Link to more photos.

Here's a direct link to the PPT presentation.

Great Lakes Everyday Ohio Hero - Makayla Lang

Quoting from the Ohio Children's Trust's website:

Makayla Lang spent much of her childhood in foster care, emancipating from DCFS in Cuyahoga County. Based on her lived experiences in foster care she knew she wanted to help others in the foster care system. In 2018, she applied for and received a youth coordinator position on a five-year SAMHSA funded Ohio Healthy Transitions Project. In this role she uses the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model helping multi-system involved youth nearing the age of 18 to get a better handle on life by learning the “adulting thing” as she once called it.

2022 Inspiring Action Virtual Summit - ESSA

Alexys Madero and Fayvian Ferguson of the OHIO YAB presented during the Inspiring Action Virtual Summit: Supporting Educational Stability for Youth in Foster Care on April 6, 2022.

One participant shared that, "Fayvian and Alexys delivered poignant speeches that struck the perfect balance of strategic storytelling and practical application. Thanks to both!"

This event brought together educators, agency leaders, providers and caregivers from across the state to:

• Discover tools and insights to be the best school advocate for youth in foster care
• Explore approaches that encourage resiliency and stability in school and beyond
• Gather and share strategies to ensure ESSA policies and practices are prioritized and implemented with fidelity. 

Makayla Lang named one of Ohio's Everyday Heroes

Kudos to OHIO YAB Youth Ambassador Makayla Lang for being honored as one of the Ohio Children’s Trust Funds’ annual Everyday Ohio Heroes.

The Ohio Children’s Trust Fund established the Everyday Ohio Hero Awards to honor individuals who dedicate their time, efforts or lives to preventing child abuse and child neglect. The winners will be honored at an April 7th event.

Makayla Lang was chosen as the 2022 Everyday Hero for the Great Lakes Region of Ohio, which is made up of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake Counties. A former foster care youth herself, Makayla Lang now works for the Wingspan Care Group. She assists many young people directly by helping them through the Ohio Healthy Transitions Project. 

 

Protecting youth who run away from unsafe situations

OHIO YAB Ambassador Todd Brooklyn and Lisa Dickson of ACTION Ohio spoke with Senator Manning yesterday, to thank him for his work on Ohio Senate Bill 288 and to ask for his future support in establishing a less punitive response for youth who run away, and ensure that their records are automatically expunged of this status offense when they enter young adulthood.

We shared with him that:

• The most common reason youth give for running away is seeking to escape a negative home environment.
• Across multiple studies of runaway youth, rates of physical abuse range from 40-60%.
• 34% of teens reported sexual abuse to the National Runaway Safeline as the reason why they left home.
• Youth who go missing for longer periods of time, and who travel farthest away, are most likely to have been abused previously.
• For those who run away to escape abuse, their biggest fear is being returned back to the abusive situation.
• According to the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, agencies are required to provide a counseling session after youth run away, to figure out why – but this doesn’t always happen.
• Too often, youth are returned to abusive situations and they often run away again.

Running away is considered a “status offense,” which is a noncriminal act that is considered a law violation only because of a youth’s status as a minor. In Ohio, status offenses are classified as “unruly children” – and there is no lower age specified for an “unruly child.”  This means that a child as young as 10 years old who runs away to seek to escape an abusive situation could be charged with a status offense for doing so. 

In addition, if the young person runs away again, the court can punish the youth with a term of secure confinement. These instances of secure confinement do nothing to help youth and can, in fact, make it more likely that young person engages in delinquent behavior in the future. From a federal sense, this is outdated policy. When the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was reauthorized in 2018, one of its core requirements was the deinstitutionalization of juveniles for status offenses.

During the call, Senator Manning shared that: 

• He is glad we reached out to him about this issue because it is right up his alley. 
• That he is concerned to hear that state of Ohio has no lower age limit on status offenses like running away.
• In his county youth aren’t charged for status offenses until they are at least 12 years old
• SB 288 has been getting a lot of pushback from law enforcement and prosecutors
• This might work well as a stand-alone bill, one that he would definitely support, to be introduced before the end of break. He believes this could be a good bipartisan bill. 
• He is going to reach out to his friend who is a former juvenile judge, and think about additional state Senators and Representatives that might be a great fit to also support. 
• He suggested that we could reach out to Representative Brian Stewart to see if this could be added as an amendment to his bind-over bill.

ICCA form and Ohio Citizen's Review Panel

 

On Sunday, March 6, at 6 pm, representatives of the Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board (OHIO YAB) met with Sarah Parmenter and Jenny Stotts of the Ohio Citizen's Review Panel to discuss concerns and suggestions regarding the ICCA form. 

The Ohio Citizen’s Review Panel has also invited youth to participate in their Annual CRP Strategic Planning Meeting on Monday, May 16 at 9 am.

Exciting Video Project

 The OHIO YAB is working on a video project, with Kelsie Brown taking lead...

First draft of ideas to share in the first video...

First draft of ideas to share in the second video...

First draft of ideas to share in the third video...

Meeting with HUD Senior Leadership regarding FSHO implementation

 

Link to more photos.

Letter to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge.

Two more years of support will provide a longer runway to achieve success

Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies previously worked incredibly hard to convince the state of Ohio to extend foster care supports to 21. Since its inception in 2017, Bridges has served 3,195 young adults. 

During the pandemic, extended foster care supports are needed more than ever before. Between Feb. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, annual enrollment increased by 97%.  

The OHIO YAB and ACTION Ohio are currently compiling testimonials to ask our state to extend supports for two more years, until age 23.

2022 Youth Ombudsman Testimony

 

Pictured with
Senator Cecil Thomas and Senator Teresa Fedor
of the Senator Judiciary

Link to more photos.

On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, we were able to provide testimony for House Bill 4, related to the establishment of a Youth Ombudsman. 

Proponent testimony was shared by: 

• Juliana Barton, ACTION Ohio
• Todd Brooklyn, OHIO YAB
• Kim Eckhart, CDF-Ohio

Testimony was also provided by Kristi Burre of the Governor's Children's Initiative, during which she mentioned that: 

• The independent Ombudsman Office is an important first step in listening to the youth voice and using it to inform policy changes and programs.

• We are committed to this continued partnership with our youth advocates. 

• In discussions regarding the Ombudsman Office, youth shared they felt disconnected from resources and needed help navigating the children services system. 

• As a result, ODJFS has begun exploring ways to stand up a youth navigator program, which will support youth by answering their questions and providing information about the children services system. This program will complement the Ombudsman Office in a variety of ways.  

FSHO's national implementation

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE IMPLEMENTS FSHO.

The Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act (FSHO) was written by foster youth and alumni from ACTION Ohio, NCHCW, and Congressional Champions led by Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio and Rep. Karen Bass of California.  FSHO offers a platform for youth to build economic self-sufficiency. 

2022 January OHIO YAB Meeting

Link to more photos. 

Yesterday was the OHIO YAB’s first statewide quarterly meeting in person since January 2020.

Although COVID kept Ohio youth leaders from being able to meet in person, youth ambassadors from every county and regional YAB have continued to move the work of the Board forward behind the scenes, including:

• Virtual meetings with legislators
• Virtual Roundtables with the Governor
• Youth brainstorming sessions on Zoom

But there is a certain power that comes from meeting in person. So much has happened over the past two years. Yesterday’s 12 and 13-year-olds are now 14 and 15, and have been missing out on having a statewide voice. This is why we were determined to make yesterday’s meeting happen, even when the funding for our space and food fell through.

As with every other thing about 2022, things were and are unpredictable. The most active Youth Ambassadors over the past two years weren’t able to make it due to (a.) not being able to get out of class, (b.) having COVID, (c.) their ride had COVID, (d.) someone they had been in contact with recently had COVID, (e.) a family member had COVID.

The OHIO YAB is based on “overcoming hurdles in Ohio,” and that’s exactly what happened yesterday. The partnership between Franklin and Stark Counties which was formed during a youth retreat in Feb. 2020 was rekindled. A former OHIO YAB President drove down to be of support. Youth for whom this was their very first OHIO YAB meeting exemplified the quote of: “Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.”

Participating youth were able to have a voice about:

• How they define permanency
• Driver’s Ed and Driver’s Licenses
• A Resource App Pilot
• The future Youth Ombudsman Office

Youth-Centered Permanency

Are you between ages 18 - 26? Were you reunified, adopted, or placed in guardianship at age 14 or older?  Would you like to share your insights to empower youth to have a voice when it comes to identifying permanent connections?

Please contact JamoleCallahan@nacac.org

Recommended Characteristics of a Future Youth Ombudsman

On Jan. 4, 2022, the OHIO YAB, ACTION Ohio and Children's Defense Fund~Ohio met with ODJFS to discuss the experience, education and characteristics of the future Youth Ombudsman.

In 19-year-old Todd’s words: “This is an office that should not be taken lightly. This is an office that I wish I had when I was younger.

Normalcy Discussion

In early December 2022, the OHIO YAB asked:

• In what ways did you and did you not experience “Normalcy” during foster care?

Attached are youth responses, organized by category.