Greetings!
We encourage you to forward this
newsletter to your friends and family who may be interested in the work
that Athens County Children Services does each day to support families
and keep children safe.
Thank you!
Sherri Oliver Insights Editor and Public Relations & Community Events Coordinator |
Walk for Foster Care Awareness
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On the last Friday in May, a group of social workers, foster youth and parents, and community members made the walk from the Athens County Courthouse to the front lawn of Athens County Children Services to raise awareness of foster care. Each walk participant carried a flower to represent one child in foster care, with 120 total flowers. Once the group reached the agency, they planted these flowers in the soil to represent how important it is for children and youth in foster care to achieve stability and permanency.
Recently-emancipated Independent Living youth Courtney spoke at the event, and she had this to say on what it's like to be a teenager in foster care:
"My name is Courtney. I am 18 years old and will emancipate from foster care on June 1. I have been in foster care for almost 3 years. Foster care is not an easy way to grow up. I only get to see my mom once a week for two hours. I live for these visits because my mom means the world to me. But no matter how hard foster care has been, it has helped me in so many ways. My caseworker and foster parents have helped me grow into the person I am today."
The group makes its way down East State Street to raise awareness for foster care.  | We planted flowers to represent the 120 children in foster care in Athens County.  | |
What makes up the Family Support Unit?
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The Family Support Unit is composed of visitation, parent mentoring, school social workers, transportation, and the Domestic Relations Clinic. I will briefly describe the visitation and parent mentoring pieces today.
Our unit goal is to have quality collaboration between the Family Support Unit, other agency staff, and the children and families we work with.
Visitation is an important service. These visits involve children in the temporary custody of Athens County Children Services and their parents. Visits have a range of levels based on the severity of safety issues that brought the children into care. These visits are a vital step in the reunification of children and their parents or caregivers.
Currently, the Visitation Center at ACCS averages 125 visits a month. Three full-time staff serve the visitation center. Volunteers, student interns, and AmeriCorps members are a vital part of the Visitation Center. The staff seeks to provide a professional, respectful, caring, strength-based approach in working with families.
The parent mentor program is composed of one full time and one part time worker. The practice emphasis is based on a prevention/family-centered approach. Referrals come from throughout the agency. The lead Parent Mentor uses a variety of interventions with an emphasis on the "Parent Toolshop", an evidence-based approach to work with parents and children. This nationally recognized parenting method is a primary tool used with many of the families. Many families working with the parent mentor program do so voluntarily, and services are provided on a contractual basis. We measure the success of the intervention through pre- and post-testing. Parent mentoring services may be brief or can last several months, depending on need and progress.
Tom Marx
Family Support Unit Supervisor
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Benefit Car Show
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Athens County Children Services and Friends of Children Services would like to thank the Us Guys Car Club for organizing the Benefit Car Show on their behalf. One hundred thirty cars were on display on the Public Square in Nelsonville, and it was a great day for children and families!
Benefit Car Show on the Public Square in Nelsonville  |
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Did you attend Kidfest 2010?
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We are looking for feedback on Kidfest 2010 from community members and others who were involved with the event. We are constantly looking for ways to improve this event, and you feedback is greatly appreciated! Please follow this link to take the survey:
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Staff notes
| Thank you to Lance Wise
and Diane Stock,
who have moved on from ACCS. Diane worked for 4 years as a Help Me
Grow Service Coordinator. Lance worked as the POSITRACT Caseworker for 3 and a
half years.
We
would like to thank them for
their dedicated service to the children and families of Athens County.
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Contact Information
Sherri Oliver
Editor/Public Relations and Community Events Coordinator
Athens County Children Services
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Our Mission | |
Protecting Children
Strengthening Families
Securing Futures |
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Contact Us | |
If you suspect child abuse or neglect, please call:
740-592-3061
(M-F, 8:00am - 4:30pm)
1-877-477-0772
(After-hours, weekends, holidays)
If you would like more information on foster care and adoption, please call:
740-592-3061
(M-F, 8:00am - 4:30pm)
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| Children Waiting | | James, Wesley, Meskle, Johnathan, Tatem | |
May 1998, May 1999, July 2000, October 2002, September 2005
Are you up for a challenge? Upon coming into foster care, this
sibling group did not know how to get along, but they are now trying
very hard to learn how to negotiate and resolve conflicts. What they
already knew and practiced was loyalty, caring, and generosity.
These
are characteristics that they have always had. They are an active and
boisterous bunch who need a family who can keep up with them while
providing them with the love and structure they need to continue to
grow.
James, Wesley, Meskle, Johnathan, and Tatem currently live in
different foster homes but want to be adopted by the same family so they
can be together. Can you help them make their dream come true? For more information on this sibling group, please visit our website.
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Kids in care, doing amazing things!
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Congratulations to 2010 high school graduates David, Courtney, Steven, Michael, Aaron, and Derek! Everyone at ACCS is so proud of your accomplishments, and we wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors.
Congratulations to Tracy, a junior at Tri-County Career center, for earning the Superintendent's Award for good grades and attendance. We're so proud of you, Tracy.
Courtney, one of our high school grads who emancipated from foster care last week, recently earned her learner's permit. Congrats!
David, another recent grad, will be attending William Jewell College in Missouri. We wish you the best of luck, David!
CJ and Shelton competed in the Special Olympics at Alexander Schools on April 30. CJ won 3rd place in his heat of the 100 meter run. Shelton won first place in both the 200 meter run and the softball throw. Great job, CJ and Shelton!
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Thanks and best wishes, interns!
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We'd like to thank our student interns
who have put in so much hard work over the past school year. Best of
luck to:
- Tori Wood (family studies)
- Katie Murphy, Margarette Jah, Shawn Jackson,
Katelyn White, and Maggie Rentsch (social work)
- Kristin Lamb (Master's of Social Work)
- Cassidy O'Brien (sociology)
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