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Join Empower U to learn what Hamilton County Job & Family services are doing for our at risk children and how ProKids can enable you to positively impact a child's life!
Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services Director Moira Weir joins ProKids Executive Director, Tracy Cook, Esq., Tax Levy Review Committee member (and Levy Opinion Writer) Dan Unger and Hamilton County Commissioner Chris Monzel for a discussion of the Services provided for our County's children at risk.
Hamilton County JFS directs federal, state and county resources that provide for the safety and well-being of abused and neglected children. Foster care, child support enforcement and child protection along with temporary financial assistance are the tools employed to enhance young lives today and offer hope for a better quality of life tomorrow.
Speaker Biography
Moira Weir has been director of Hamilton County Job and Family Services since 2007. She leads a department with a $2.1 billion annual budget that is responsible for local child protection, elder protection, publicly-funded child care, child support enforcement, workforce development, cash assistance, food stamp disbursement and Medicaid disbursement.
Weir worked her way up from being Children's Services line worker, a position she accepted upon joining the agency in 1993. Her vision is for Hamilton County JFS to be the center of a collaborative effort that draws together and leads social service agencies, businesses, governments, families and other community stakeholders in tackling the community's toughest social problems.
Tracy Cook, since 1998, has served as ProKids Executive Director, leading the effort to recruit, train and support Hamilton County, Ohio's CASA Volunteers - Court Appointed Special Advocates. Under her leadership, ProKids volunteers and staff combine to create a powerful voice for abused and neglected children. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, she joined ProKids as a CASA Volunteer in 1992. A year later she became a ProKids staff attorney and guardian ad litem as well as the ProKids litigation director.
During her tenure at ProKids, the agency has doubled the number of children it serves while creating programs which have been honored with Promising Practice Awards from the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Chris Monzel is President of the Hamilton County Commissioner. For the last five years he has challenged every department in county government to deliver essential public services while holding a tight rein on costs. As President of the Board, Chris will maintain a focus on fiscal responsibility by keeping taxes low and cutting the red tape for businesses planning to expand or relocate in Hamilton County. Commissioner Monzel's success in right-sizing government has prepared the county to prosper as the economy shows early signs of recovery.
Dan Unger is a member of the important Tax Levy Review Committee (TLRC). He wrote the opinion this year which was used to make the decision about the Levy Request on the ballot for Fall's Election. Dan will summarize the conclusions of the TLRC at this meeting.
Chris Monzel 
