New specialized dockets, intervention programs aim to help children

Dec. 10--Editor's note: This is the first part of the final installment of the year-long Protecting our Children series, done in conjunction with several sister papers in Pennsylvania. For more on issues in the Keystone state, see Page C5

ASHTABULA -- This year, Ashtabula County gained a few new tools to keep families together and divert kids from the criminal justice system. In the coming years, capabilities and state funding for those programs and agencies are expected to expand.

In fall, the county Juvenile Court opened its newly certified family drug court, the second state-approved specialized docket program in the county -- among more than 200 others across Ohio -- to help drug-offending parents keep or regain custody of their children.

A couple months later, the court unveiled a new, state grant-funded center to facilitate early interventions for juvenile delinquents, and joined a nationwide initiative to seek alternatives to juvenile incarceration.

At the state level, the 2018-19 biennial budget includes a $60 million increase to the State Child Protection Allocation -- the first funding increase for Ohio child protective agencies in a decade, according to the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.

'Family connection'

The county Juvenile Court saw its emergency hearings increase 300 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to court Administrator Andrew Misiak.

Many involved temporary child custody or placement motions on behalf of the county Children Services Board and can be linked to drug abuse, CSB officials have said.

Caught in the middle are children separated from parents.

"When CSB used to come in, (the fate of the children) was up in the air -- 'Am I going to see my parents again?'" Misiak said. "With family drug court, there's a lot of opportunities to still have that family connection. There's more visitation involved. ... That child doesn't have to go through a lot of the heartache for that long."

He said the court's new docket -- a year-long process -- points those parents toward resources to nudge them back on track and builds positive relationships with county social workers. The program now has a full capacity of 10 families, and more are on a wait list, Misiak said.

This week a newly hired, dedicated case worker starts, he said. Court officials continue to stake out new grant opportunities to make dedicated docket staff full-time and increase the program's capacity.

"(The docket) has reaffirmed my faith in parents who struggle with drug addiction issues -- that they can once again make the children the priorities in their lives, when given proper support," Albert Camplese, Juvenile Court judge, said last month. "It seems to open people's eyes to the possibilities again of becoming sober.

"You see them excited about achieving sobriety and maintaining sobriety. By and large, we've seen nothing but success and steady progress."

'Making a difference'

A handful of Juvenile Court probation and diversion officers are now headquartered at a previously vacant space in the basement of the Ashtabula Municipal Building along Main Avenue. The court's "resource center" is a new destination for juvenile delinquents, other than a police station or Youth Detention Center.

The goal is early interventions, Misiak said. That means "getting to the root" of problems in a young offender's home or school life. Once a juvenile enters detention, they're statistically more likely to re-offend and end up in the adult prison system later in life, he said.

"We're doing the same things with them if they're on probation, but we're getting in sooner," he said. "All the data shows the sooner you get started with these, the less likely they're going to come back."

Though the center was just christened, the Juvenile Court opened its first diversion cases in August. To-date, 101 cases have been deferred from the usual, punitive Juvenile Court process and only one of those juveniles returned on another charge, said Caron Fenton, a court diversion specialist.

"The parents have been very grateful their child has not had a juvenile record," she said. "They've been able to work with us to keep their child out of the juvenile system. ... Early intervention is really making a difference."

The center is currently open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, but Misiak said they hope to extend those hours to midnight come summer, when kids are out of school and juvenile offenses spike. In the next few years, they hope to make it around-the-clock.

Juveniles referred to the center are still charged through the court -- and violent or "high-risk" offenders will still be held at the YDC -- but they go through additional screenings for mental health issues or recidivism factors, he said.

A community coordinator connects those juveniles' families with appropriate area services.

A new diversion specialist starts at the center this week, making four dedicated employees -- all funded through grants, Misiak said.

The first two years' of $2,100 monthly rent payments for the facility have been paid through a Youth Services grant, which is renewed when quality benchmarks are met.

"Any time (a new grant) pops up ... we meet within 24 hours to see if we're going to pursue it or not," he said. "We've always been really active in the grant funding."

The center's opening was coupled with the county's addition to the nationwide Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, which has participating municipalities in more than 300 counties across 39 states -- 10 of which are in Ohio.

Participating sites have seen juvenile incarcerations reduced by 70 percent and average daily population of those state facilities reduced by 43 percent, according to Regina Lurry, the Ohio Department of Youth Services JDAI administrator.

'Kids who can't go home'

In the last five years, the number of Ohio children in state custody increased 73 percent, and related costs rose almost 60 percent, according to commissioner Kathryn Whittington, who used to work for Children Services.

While an additional $15 million for Ohio child protective agencies annually over the next four years in the state's biennial budget doesn't match the influx of children being taken into state custody for drug-abusing parents, Tania Burnett, county Children Services Board executive director, said "it's a start."

Ashtabula County officials expect the board's share to increase close to 30 percent, or about $160,000, according to Burnett. That pushes its annual State Child Protection Allocation from about $545,000 to more than $700,000. The board's 2016 budget was $7.4 million, about half of which is levy-funded.

Looking ahead, Burnett said the board will look to create and fill one more case worker position to meet the board's mounting case loads.

If she had a magic wand, Burnett said she'd fulfill many other grave needs in the county -- more state-run housing options for displaced children; more willing and available foster families; a more accessible, revamped child visitation center along Donahoe Drive, which hasn't been updated since it was purchased in the 1990s.

With a lack of all three, children more often than not head out of county when removed from their home by the board -- which greatly worsens outcomes.

"If we could keep kids close to home, that's going to help with our reunification efforts with parents," she said.

In the middle of last year, Signature Health opened a new, 16-bed residential facility for boys along Park Avenue in Ashtabula, but a companion facility for girls has yet to materialize.

Burnett joked that she continues to bug the health care provider about it -- "it would make a nice addition for 2018," she said.

Finding new foster families is also difficult, Burnett said. She thinks most able parents struggle with the concept of bonding with a child who may later leave.

"That asks a lot of people," she said. "You have to have the right frame of mind to do that."

The state budget also diverts another $15 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to state kinship caregiver programs -- through which relatives take custody of displaced children instead of the state -- and removes a poverty level limit for those families to get assistance.

Burnett said the funds are meant to help those families with daycare costs, but county officials still wonder how far those dollars will stretch, when divvied up among 88 counties.

"When you talk to anyone who's working with kinship families, the biggest barrier is daycare," she said. "Daycare costs are high. If you're giving them two kids and they've already got three of their own ... it would be great to have funding that actually matches the need.

"We're trying to work out the best way to use that money the legislators have set aside for kinship families and promote this idea for supporting kinship families," she said.

"It's the best option for kids who can't go home."

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