Clinton County included in new program for families hurt by opiates

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WILMINGTON — Clinton is one of 14 southern Ohio counties to be included in a new pilot program that will serve families harmed by parental opioid abuse.

Ohio START (Sobriety, Treatment, And Reducing Trauma) is an intervention program that will provide specialized victim services, such as intensive trauma counseling, to children who have suffered victimization due to parental drug use, stated a media release from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office.

The program also will provide drug treatment for parents of children referred to the program.

Ohio START will bring together child protective services, peer mentors, the courts, and behavioral health and treatment providers to work closely with families whose children have been abused or neglected due to parental addiction.

Participating counties are Clinton, Athens, Clermont, Fairfield, Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Hocking, Ross and Vinton Counties.

“Children with a parent or parents addicted to drugs tend to stay in foster care longer, and they enter foster care having experienced significant trauma. While mom and dad are high, these kids may go days without food or supervision. They may have witnessed a parent inject drugs, overdose or even die,” said DeWine.

In February, Clinton County Job and Family Services (JFS) Director Kathi Spirk told the Clinton County commissioners that the agency’s Child Protection Unit faces a formidable challenge in responding to how the opiate epidemic is affecting children.

Clinton County JFS currently averages about 60 children in its custody in foster care. Almost 70 percent of those children have a parent with an opiate issue, Spirk said last month.

On Tuesday, Spirk said Clinton County JFS was represented at the Attorney General’s recent press conference unveiling Ohio START.

“Our Job and Family Services’ Child Protection Unit is proud to partner with Solutions Community Counseling and Recovery Center of Clinton County and Clinton County Juvenile Court for the Ohio START Project. We are honored to be part of this collaborative effort providing necessary support to addicted parents and their children,” said Spirk.

“The children are the vulnerable victims of the opiate epidemic. The pilot will study how effective this approach can be by providing timely, accessible, trauma-informed treatment, intensive case management services, and recovery supports with certified peer specialists. We are excited about the opportunity to help families recover and children to receive services that will promote family reunification in the foster care system,” she added.

The program primarily will be funded through a $3.5 million Victims Of Crime Act grant from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office which will be distributed among the counties during two and a half years.

The grant funds will be specifically spent to help county child welfare agencies identify children who have been victimized due to parental drug use, and provide them with specialized treatment for any resulting behavioral or emotional trauma, stated the release.

Casey Family Programs, which partnered with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to develop the Ohio START program, is providing an additional $75,000 for the program.

Child welfare workers will work with a certified peer mentor to meet with each family once a week to ensure the safety of the child and provide support to parents, the release stated. If a child can safely stay in the home during this process, the child can do so with the oversight of caseworkers. Otherwise, children will have regular visitation with their parents as they undergo drug treatment, which will be paid for by either Medicaid or private insurance.

Family reunification will occur after parents have a minimum of six months of documented sobriety, the release added.

“Children are the innocent, invisible victims of the opioid epidemic in Ohio. Ohio’s children services system has experienced an 11 percent increase in the number of children removed from their homes and a 19 percent increase in children staying in care longer due to how challenging it is for parents addicted to opioids to successfully recover,” said Angela Sausser, executive director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.

“This grant opportunity allows us to pilot a model that could positively improve children’s safety, well-being, and permanency with their birth families,” Sausser stated.

Ohio START is modeled on a similar program in Kentucky that resulted in about half as many children returning to foster care due to parental addiction. Also, parents involved in the Kentucky program were found to have twice the sobriety rate, the release stated.

The effectiveness of Ohio START will be studied by The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University. If the program is found to be a success, it may expand to other counties.

From left are Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Clinton County Job and Family Services (JFS) Deputy Director Gina Speaks-Eshler, Clinton County JFS Director Kathi Spirk and Clinton County Child Protection Administrator Cindy Ricketts.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/03/web1_spirk_p_f.jpgFrom left are Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Clinton County Job and Family Services (JFS) Deputy Director Gina Speaks-Eshler, Clinton County JFS Director Kathi Spirk and Clinton County Child Protection Administrator Cindy Ricketts. Courtesy photo

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/03/web1_Ohio-AG-office-cmyk-5.jpgCourtesy photo
Includestraumacounselingfor children

By Gary Huffenberger

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