ACCS Small Insights Logo
August 2010 � Volume 1 � Issue 7
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
Garden Project Update!
This is the first year of the ACCS Garden Project and it's in full bloom! The project was begun to provide parents and their children in foster care with an opportunity to participate in gardening by growing, harvesting, and preparing delicious food.

Sisters helping at the garden.
Sisters helping at the garden
The garden has been a community effort thanks to OSU Master Gardeners, an OU-COM Community Health Programs Well Child Grant, ACCS staff and Summer Service Corps volunteers who are donating their resources and time. Volunteers have built the fence, provided manure, plowed the plot, donated garden supplies, and developed curriculum instruction. All of the seeds and plants were donated by local Master Gardeners and Butch Mitchell from Athens County Alternative School. We are in the process of becoming a site for Community Food Initiatives' Donation Station program. This will provide fresh produce for foster families.

In the first year of the garden project, there have been many positive interactions and learning experiences. Families coming to the garden are currently picking beans, green peppers, and tomatoes. They have also been provided recipes which use the produce including salsa, healthy snacks, stuffed peppers, and tomato soup.

We plan to continue facilitating these positive experiences by teaching children and families about plant growth, hoping that families may consider a home garden in the future. Using the Visitation Center kitchen, we hope to teach simple cooking with fresh ingredients which families can then make at home. We have purchased a compost bin, which will reduce our waste and provide garden nutrients, helping us to be environmentally friendly. In the fall we hope to continue bringing in produce by planting crops such as lettuce, spinach, and onions. We are looking forward to continuing this project next year, building on our successes from this first year.
Celebrating Families

In an effort to offer prevention services to the community of Nelsonville, ACCS has partnered with the Nelsonville Community Center over the past year to deliver a six-month long support group program to 16 families. The goal of this partnership has been to strengthen families and prevent or break the cycle of child abuse or neglect.

 

Celebrating Families is a nationally recognized evidence-based curriculum that supports families in the process of recovery by teaching healthy living and coping skills while fostering family cohesion. The families served are affected by drug or alcohol abuse and are at risk for child abuse or neglect. In addition to the weekly meetings, families are served dinner at the center once a week as part of the program.

 

The program administrator, Rhonda Bentley, is highly supportive of and enthusiastic about Celebrating Families. In the first series of groups, Rhonda was amazed at the positive changes in participants and stronger families as a result. Among the programs merits, she says that the engaging nature of the support group format as well as the use of many diverse and age appropriate activities make this program beneficial to a wide range of participants. In a satisfaction survey, participants were similarly enthusiastic about the program and the effect it had on their lives, their children, and their families as a whole.

 

Because of the success of the first program, the Board of ACCS voted this month to continue the partnership with the Nelsonville Community Center for another year. Starting in October, the Center will begin a new round of Celebrating Families groups to serve 15 new families. Rhonda hopes to work with ACCS and other county agencies to identify families who could benefit from the program.


Training brings positive change for children and families

For over 26 years, SEORTC, as one of Ohio's eight Regional Training Centers has been maintaining close partnerships with our 13 county public children service agencies to identify and respond to the training needs of their staff and caregivers. Our goal has always been to get "the right person to the right training at the right time".  

 

Our mission is to promote the delivery of high-quality, culturally responsive, family centered workshops to the staff and caregivers who work with children who have experienced or are at risk of abuse, neglect, or dependency, and the families of these children. Our desired outcome is positive changes for children and families.

 

Historically, most workshops were offered at the Regional Training Center in Athens. Over the years we have been offering more and more workshops on site in the county agencies to minimize staff disruption and save on agency travel costs.

 

Throughout the years we have seen many positive changes in child welfare and the training program. Recently both systems have embraced the tenets of "evidence-based practice" (EBP), which   recognizes best practice is based upon the best available evidence. All of our workshop outlines are thoroughly reviewed to assure they reflect EBP.

 

 Many positive changes have been occurring in the training program. Traditionally, training met a workshop presenter standing in front of a classroom of participants. Starting in 2006, the training program began offering several online learning programs for staff and caregivers to provide them with critical information when they need it. Prior to embarking on distance learning, we conducted a survey to determine if foster parents had access to the Internet. The results revealed that 96% had direct access to the Internet. The other 4% were able to access it though family, friends, or their public library.

 

We are now offering  "coaching" on site to any county that requests it. Coaching is a one-to-one intervention that develops skills identified through an individual assessment. We have coached executives who are new to child welfare or were promoted up so fast they needed additional skill building  in order to fulfill the demanding requirements of their position. We have coached caseworkers on improving their engagement skills with families. We have coached  supervisors  on how to enhance their engagement skills with their caseworkers. In general, the training program is strengthening its emphasis on the practical application of supervisory skills.

 

One of the most exciting recent additions to the training program is the involvement of foster care alumni in developing and presenting workshops. They have been very well received.

 

This is an exciting time in child welfare with the arrival of Alternative Response , which "requires a fundamental shift in the philosophical and structural framework of Ohio's work with families". The training program is looking forward to partnering with our counties to make this best practice a reality.



Paula Marx


Paula Marx
Southeast Ohio Regional Training Center Director


Summertime Parenting Tips:
Back to school!

The clock is counting down until school is back in session and it is closer than you think. Being less than one month away, here are a few tips to ensure you and your children are ready for the bell to ring on the first day.

 

Often, school year bedtimes differ from summer bedtimes. Setting the latest time your child is able to stay up at night and wake up in the morning is a good way to get used to starting the day early. A good way to achieve this is to move the present bedtime fifteen minutes earlier every other night until the desired bedtime is regular. By the day school starts, everyone's bedtime will be adjusted.

 


Scheduling doctors appointments during the summer has a great impact. With your child going to the doctor or dentist before school starts, he or she will not have to miss class during these appointments. Another benefit is that your child will be healthy when school is back in session and able to learn comfortably.

 

School supplies are needed, and last years stockpile has probably been scattered throughout the house. One thing you can do is organize existing school supplies and beat the rush to Staples now to finish up your shopping.

 

Another thing that is helpful to do before sending your child back to school is to set up a meeting with their teacher. Whether in person or on the phone, a quick chat with the teacher about the upcoming year goes a long way.

 

Lastly, always remember to discuss safety. Things like getting to and from school, recess, lunchroom, and classroom safety are of great importance. For more safety tips check out more safety tips.

Upcoming Events

August 11
12 pm - 3 pm
Kids Day @ Athens County Fair

August 12
9 am - 12 pm
Lace Up For Kids Distribution Day

August 18
10 am to 2 pm
Heritage Health fair at Parade of the Hills

August 18 - August 21
Late afternoon - early evening
Kids games at Parade of the Hills

Contact Information
 
Sherri Oliver
Editor/Public Relations and Community Events Coordinator
Athens County Children Services
 
Please send any feedback, questions, or comments to Sherri Oliver at [email protected]
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Our Mission

Protecting Children
Strengthening Families
Securing Futures
Quick Links

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)
Children Waiting
Carl (C.J.)
February 1997

ACCS Board

This youngster is very affectionate and loves to cuddle. C.J. is charming and funny and loves to play board games, Hungry Hippo, Twister, and Cranium Jr. He enjoys feeding and caring for animals and participating in Special Olympics.

C.J. is in an MH classroom and takes medication to help him control his mood and behavior. He also has a seizure disorder for which he takes medication. C.J. will need to continue to see his neurologist regularly and attends weekly physical therapy.

C.J. needs a loving family who is willing and able to provide him with a high level of structure. Because he needs a lot of individual attention, C.J. would do better in a family where he is the only or youngest child. He has extended family members and siblings with whom he would like to stay in contact. C.J. is currently placed in a therapeutic foster home placement.

C.J. is in the permanent custody of Athens Children Services and is legally available for adoption. Subsidies are available.

For more information on C.J., please visit our website!


Congratulations!
Congratulations to Sandra Chiki, who has accepted the position of Receptionist/Family Support Secretary.

Also, congrats to Shawn Jackson, who just accepted a position as a Family Services Caseworker. Shawn was an intern at ACCS last year, and briefly filled in this summer as an Intake Screener.

We'd like to welcome Kent Felts and Angela Ridgely to ACCS. Kent is our new POSITRACT caseworker, and Angela has taken on the job of Intake Screener.

Kids in care doing AMAZING things!
Carrie, who is in permanent custody of Athens County Children Services, recently got a haircut and donated her hair to Locks of Love! Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.


ACCS now a Donation Station Pick-Up Point
ACCS Board

ACCS is now a pick-up site for Community Food Initiatives' "Donation Station" project. Each Monday, we will receive a delivery of fresh local foods that will be given to the families we work with.

We are very excited to be able to take part in this project! For more information on CFI and the Donation Station,
please visit this link.