Bring on Spring!
This is one my favorite times of the year as it offers such promise and anticipation of all things “new.” It is also when we come together as a community to call attention to Child Abuse Prevention. Although the month of April is dedicated to this purpose, it is something we and our partners promote year-round. We are once again hosting our Annual Child Abuse Prevention Month event on April 14th at 8:30 a.m. Please wear your blue on that day and join us virtually as we provide some important updates and recognize the outstanding child welfare professionals in our community.
You will see in this quarter’s newsletter, we were once again able to make the holiday wishes come true for so many children, families, and elderly individuals all thanks to the enormous support of our community by providing gifts, food, and financial donations.
We also want to thank the Lancaster Rotary for providing a grant that will enable our agency to receive our Heart Safe Accreditation. Resa Tobin, from Fairfield Medical Center, did an outstanding job providing the hands-on CPR training to our staff.
Take care and stay safe,
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2020 HOLIDAY DONATION DRIVE UPDATE |
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Fairfield County Job and Family Services wishes to thank our amazing community for supporting children and older adults in need once again this holiday season! Below is a quote from one of our long-time community partners/donors: “I wanted to pass along a thank you to you (JFS) and all who worked with you finding a way to continue to coordinate holiday assistance when so many were in need and other organizations were unable to do so safely under the circumstances. It truly stands out and speaks to the coordinated efforts that make the Fairfield County community strong.”
This year we were able to help over 425 children and older adults with Christmas wish lists, bikes and holiday meals thanks to your generosity. We are so very blessed to have such a strong spirit of giving and sense of community in Fairfield County. Thank you to everyone who made the holidays bright for those in need, especially during this most difficult year.
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Join us for a VIRTUAL Child Abuse Prevention Month Awareness Event
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LOCATION
Virtual
DATE AND TIME
04/14/21 8:30am
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04/14/21 9:30am
Join our event on April 14th by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3ehcZew
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Each year, Protective Services looks forward to recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. The events and activities planned by Protective Services provides opportunities for members of the Fairfield County community to recognize the shared responsibility we all have to offer hope to those who have been victims of abuse and neglect.
Wednesday, April 14: Protective Services welcomes all members of the Fairfield County community to participate in a statewide WEAR BLUE DAY to help raise awareness about child abuse and neglect. Stakeholders and community members can forward pictures to us and the photos will be posted on our social media sites.
Wednesday, April 14: Protective Services is hosting a virtual Prevention Awareness event. We are pleased to have Vincent Ciola and Hannah Knies from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services speak to the community about the upcoming changes related to the Family First Prevention Services Act.
Fairfield County Protective Services is happy to announce we are one of seven counties in Ohio participating in a pilot which provides the opportunity to give feedback to ODJFS on policy and practice considerations prior to the implementation of Family First in October 2021. Protective Services will also be highlighting a new prevention service initiated in 2020 as a way for pregnant mothers to request agency intervention and assistance. Fairfield County Protective Services will also announce the Fourth Annual Partner for Kids Award during this event.
Throughout the month of April, there will also be opportunities to vote on your favorite Blue Ribbon Artwork. Local high schools will be participating this year in order for students to share their artwork to the community.
Together we can strive to PREVENT CHILD ABUSE - ALL KIDS DESERVE TO BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND SAFE!
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JFS staff are extremely appreciative to the Lancaster Rotary Club and President Matt Wideman for providing us with a grant to offer Hands On Practical Experience (H.O.P.E.) Training for CPR through Fairfield Medical Center. Resa Tobin, FMC Community Educator, led our staff through the training to help save lives should the need arise to assist a customer or team member. What a great partnership with Rotary and Fairfield Medical Center to ensure our agency is HEART SAFE! |
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HOW TO REPORT UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD |
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COMMUNITY SERVICES GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND |
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We are proud to announce our Community Services Department recently held a Drive-thru Soup Drive in which staff participated to raise money and canned goods to donate to Maywood Mission. We donated 92 food items and $285.00! |
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BENEFIT BRIDGE INITIATIVE HELPS PEOPLE IN NEED |
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Fairfield County has been selected to participate in an initiative of Governor Dewine’s to pilot a program called Benefit Bridge. The goal of this program is to guide customers from public assistance benefits to paid employment and benefits from an employer. Many families experience a loss of resources when they increase earned income, and this can discourage them on their path to self-sufficiency.
The Benefit Bridge will guide them through the transition by increasing knowledge of benefits, setting goals, creating personal budgets, managing finances and planning for unforeseen financial situations. The program is just getting started and will wrap-up at the end of March 2022. We are currently completing staff training focused on trauma-informed care and will be hiring a peer mentor to assist with the program.
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PANDEMIC IMPACT ON
CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTIONS
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The Covid-19 pandemic has presented major challenges to the collection of child support payments throughout the country. The pandemic has resulted in fewer Ohioans working and earning a wage, while also struggling to afford costly childcare expenses associated with out-of-school children. These obstacles have left Ohioans with less income available to pay their bills, child support included. Despite these negative factors, and thanks to extended unemployment benefits and federal stimulus payments, child support payment collection here in Fairfield County has continued at its pre-pandemic rate. The total child support collected in Fairfield County from May of 2020 through January of 2021 totals $17,395,593.46. Remarkably, this figure is within one percentage point of the amount collected throughout the previous nine months (June of 2019 - April of 2020), $17,407,478.07.
The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, included one-time cash payments of $1,200 to every American adult and up to $500 for every child. The federal government mandated that child support agencies throughout the country must intercept these funds if the recipient owed past-due child support. As a result, collections from tax intercepts more than tripled from $724,555 in 2019 to $3,089,248 in 2020.
The CARES Act also provides unemployment benefit relief and extension for many Americans. A provision of the CARES Act, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), supplies $600 per week for those receiving unemployment benefits, in addition to the amount already allotted by their respective state. These provisions resulted in an increase in child support collections from unemployment benefits from $146,356 in 2019 to $924,810 in 2020.
The increase in federal tax intercepts and unemployment withholding allowed the CSEA to maintain steady collections during the pandemic and provided many families with much-needed financial support.
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OMJ CO-HOSTS VIRTUAL CAREER FAIR |
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Fairfield County Ohio Means Jobs (OMJ) Center recently partnered with the 33 Alliance and Jobs Ohio to host a Virtual Career Fair on Feb. 18. This event featured all of the same aspects of an in-person career fair only it was held entirely online. Thirty local employers in the fields of healthcare, finance, manufacturing, logistics and automotive participated and set up online booths that included information about their companies, job postings, applications, and the opportunity to “chat” and meet with a hiring representative. Sixty-four job seekers also participated and were able to review information, browse local job opportunities, apply for open positions and speak with hiring representatives.
Post-event statistics revealed that a total of 108 chats took place between employers and job seekers. Feedback received from both employers and job seekers indicated that this was a successful endeavor and additional virtual career fairs are already being planned. The Oneida Group (Anchor Hocking) is scheduled for a simultaneous virtual and in-person hiring event on March 3 and Magna Seating Columbus is scheduled for the same on March 10. For more information on upcoming hiring events, follow and like the Ohio Means Jobs – Fairfield County accounts on Twitter and Facebook.
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