On Friday, June 7, 2024, OHIO YAB Youth Ambassadors Celebritty Duncan, Miatta, Joe and Kaden Schrimi shared their insights with DCY staff regarding Group Homes and Congregate Care.
The Ohio Department of Children and Youth is preparing their 2025-2029 Child and Family Services Plan. Their #3 goal is to reduce maltreatment and its recurrence in foster care, including reducing maltreatment in residential programs by:
- Identifying residential staff training gaps and opportunities to improve program culture.
- Increasing youth-centered programming in residential settings.
During the call, individual youth participants shared:
- Feeling resistant to counseling, due to being asked to repeatedly tell their story; "Like replaying the same movie over and over again," rather than being equipped with coping skills for how to handle PTSD and trauma. As a young adult, this individual believes that the best way to process trauma is with creative activities that engage all five senses and alchemize it
- Respecting the manager of one group home due to her being picky about who she hired on as staff, and helping residents negotiate conflict. Expressing concerns that most group home job descriptions are vague, and the desire to have a voice in creating one or more mandated trainings for group home staff.
- Concerns about youth safety in group homes and residential placements. Young adult participants talked about having an insufficient amount of cameras, not having a grievance procedure, and seeing some staff members bully younger youth and youth with disabilities.
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