Gov. DeWine proposes nearly doubling funding for children services

Ohio's governor is proposing an increase in funding for children services agencies across the state. 

Governor DeWine announced a proposed $74 million increase per year in funding to protect abused and neglected children. Thirty million of that funding would go to local children services agencies.

According to local agents, the announcement represents a 95 percent increase in the state’s funding. 

Children Services advocates say the proposed investment recognizes that Ohio has been ranked 50th in the amount of state money that supports child welfare when compared to all other states.

“That $74 million announcement, along with related spending proposals, makes good on a campaign promise that Ohio should not be last in the nation when it comes to the state’s responsibility for funding such a critical program,” states Randall B. Muth, J.D., Executive Director, Mahoning County Children Services.

"I have never experienced this level of support for children and families from the governor's office and state agencies in my 44 years of practice," said Schaffner. "I'm truly grateful for the past and future work of this governor."

“This proposed investment is very needed in Mahoning County. The opioid addiction crisis has affected every agency department. We are experiencing increased reports of child abuse and neglect which has led to an increase of 53% more cases accepted for investigations and a 50% increase in child removals resulting in over 223 children placed into foster care. There is also critical shortage of licensed foster homes in the County. In addition, caseloads have become more complex and demanding, and children are lingering longer in foster care due to relapse rates while reunification with the family becomes more challenging to accomplish,” explains Muth.

In Trumbull County, the need is similar. A release from Trumbull County Children Services says they have experienced a surge in children needing temporary placement in 2019 with an increase of 50%. 

In addition to children placed in foster care, nearly 2,000 grandparents are raising their grandchildren in Trumbull County alone.

In addition to increasing the State Child Protection Allocation by $30 million per year, up from $60 million, to give struggling county agencies the ability to pay the rising costs of serving children, Governor DeWine announced:

• $25 million for multi-system youth will prevent parents from having to relinquish custody of children with developmental disabilities or severe mental illness so that they can get the treatment they need;
• $8.5 million to support struggling grandparents and other kin care providers who unexpectedly find themselves caring for children, and to invest in recruiting much-needed foster parents;
• $5.5 million to expand the Bridges program for youth who emancipate from our system without achieving permanency;
• $4.5 million to expand evidence-based programs like Trumbull County's Ohio START program and 30 Days to Family to prevent children from coming into foster care; and
• $2.6 million to help our caseworkers be more efficient and productive in the field.

“Governor DeWine is standing up for the vulnerable children and families of Mahoning County,” Muth said. “This investment will help us address the crisis in our children services system by providing funding for the rising placement costs, serving families struggling with addiction and mental illness, preventing children from coming into foster care, and providing more suitable placements for children who do have to come into custody.”

The plan would also take care of the professionals who are tasked with looking out for abused and neglected children.

Marilyn Pape, Trumbull County Children Services Director of Out of Home Services said "We were so happy to hear him say about secondary trauma for child welfare staff because that is a huge problem and so higher caseloads just contribute to that even more in addition to seeing what they see on a daily basis in the field."

"We've always cited the fact that in Ohio we are 50th among the states in the amount of money allocated to child welfare and if they doubled it we would still be 50th," she said in describing how funding has been neglected.

"So to see a first a candidate for governor make campaign promises, then to see him become governor and make good on those promises is really
reassuring to know someone has our back and somebody knows what the pain is they're going through and how we can help them," Pape added.

The governor noted the state's poor ranking in supporting foster care and more children needing care because of the opioid crisis.

The proposal is part of DeWine's proposed budget, which will have to detail where the funding is coming from. That proposed budget will head to lawmakers on March 15th.