I am proud to present Mahoning County Children Services’ Annual Report for 2010. This year was one of continuing growth and change for the agency driven by several new initiatives. After launching our new Strategic Plan in January, a Structure Committee made up of a cross section of staff and board members spent several months analyzing and designing a new agency structure. To maximize our resources, while focusing on better outcomes for children and families, agency departments were streamlined from four departments into two, and staff positions were redesigned to provide specialized services.

With the introduction of Alternative Response in Ohio in 2007, child welfare agencies were invited to participate in an experiential learning pilot program. Alternative Response is a strength-based, family engagement process designed to help Ohio’s child welfare agencies meet the needs of children and families. Inspired by the successes of the first round of pilot counties, our agency was motivated to apply for a grant to become part of this pilot program. In June 2010, Mahoning County Children Services was awarded an Alternative Response grant, which enabled the agency to become part of the third wave of the Statewide Pilot Project. Alternative Response services, initiated at the Intake level, focus on creating a working partnership with families, caseworkers, and community services to identify concerns and find solutions. Agency staff received training over a three month period and officially introduced Alternative Response to our community partners at a Community Forum in October 2010.

We are proud to reflect on the ongoing safe reduction in the number of children in foster care. Beginning in June 2008, permanency meetings were formalized to review all children in custody on a monthly basis. As the result of the hard work of many staff, we have seen a decrease in the number of children in foster care, as children are safely moved to family, “kin,” or adoptive settings. We know that children thrive and experience better outcomes when living in a family situation, so every effort is made to identify and support stable families for our children.

Mahoning County Children Services is an agency that never sleeps. Our agency has staff on call 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year to assist in emergency situations, provide protective services for children, and work with families in crisis situations. Our community relies on the reliability of these services which play a critical role in keeping children safe.

With our Strategic Plan in place, in the upcoming year we look forward to beginning the accreditation process. Closely linked with the goals in our Plan, accreditation is designed to strengthen service delivery and promote best practice standards. We are grateful to the community for their ongoing support and invite their input during this exciting process.

Denise Stewart - Executive Director