Agency enhances Search function
Nov. 14, 2008 -- With the addition of a new Search tool, visitors to
the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services' Web site
(www.hcjfs.org) can find
information they need more quickly and easily.
The Search box sits at the top right corner
of the site. It features Google technology.
Each month, more than 25,000
individuals visit the site -- nearly double two years ago. The site
features news and information about agency services and programs as
well as areas where clients can report changes, ask questions and
get applications for services. It contains audio podcasts, videos,
RSS feeds, online chats and other helpful tools for keeping people
informed.
County celebrates National
Adoption Month
Nov. 10, 2008 -- Seven children will officially join permanent,
loving families this Friday in Hamilton County’s second annual mass
adoption ceremony to celebrate National Adoption Month.
The county’s Job and Family Services Department is teaming with the
county’s Probate Court to organize the adoption event. Seven
children, all victims of abuse and neglect, will join five families.
A celebration will be held afterward. While adoption finalizations
are normally confidential, the families have agreed to invite the
media to this event.
"Our mass adoption ceremony was so emotional and uplifting last year
– it stands as a symbol for all the wonderful adoptions we arrange
each year," said Moira Weir, director of the Job and Family Services
department. "We want to make this an annual event. It is among the
happiest days of the year for our families, children and staff
members."
Hamilton County is on pace for about 130 adoptions this year. Last
year, the agency set a record with 135. About 215 children, all
victims of abuse or neglect, are available for adoption at any one
time.
Among those who will be adopted Friday:
• Two young brothers, ages 4 and 1, who will be adopted by the
foster family that has cared for them since they were infants.
• A 2-year-old boy who will be adopted by his foster mother, a
registered nurse who became a foster mother after seeing children
abandoned at the hospital.
• A young boy and a young girl, ages 2 and 1, who will be adopted by
their foster parents, who already have four other adopted children.
• An 11-year-old boy who has excelled at school and sports since
moving in with his foster – now adoptive – parents three years ago.
• A 17-year-old boy who is being adopted by the foster mother who
has cared for him for the past six years. She’s a native of Jamaica
and he is eager to travel to her native homeland and learn about his
new family’s roots.
Child Support improves in key
performance areas
Nov. 6, 2008 -- Hamilton County Child Support, a division of the
county's Department of Job and Family Services, showed improvement
in all four major performance categories in the fiscal year ended
Sept. 30, including:
Establishment of Paternity -- *80.82 percent (first time achieving
the federal benchmark, up from 76.69 percent previous year)
Establishment of Support -- 69.67 percent (68.51 percent, previous
year)
Collection of Current Support -- 65.66 percent (65.58 percent,
previous year)
Collection of Past Due Support -- 66.16 percent (64.29 percent,
previous year) * Preliminary numbers
Due to the progress, Hamilton County Child Support no longer
operates under a Work Improvement Program. Agency leaders thanked
Child Support staff for their hard work in improving performance in
these key areas.
ProKids honors Children's Services
supervisor
Nov. 5, 2008 -- Mark Eling doesn’t think he deserves an award, but
ProKids thought differently.
Eling, the UMUR supervisor in Children’s Services Care Management at
the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services, was
recently recognized by the organization with its “Step Up For
Children Award.”
The award recognizes individuals who have significantly improved the
lives of Hamilton County children who have been abused and
neglected; the individual is someone who has gone above and beyond
what would be expected of them to care for or support the care of
children.
Eling’s work with Celebration of Dreams, which recognizes foster
children who graduate from high school, was part of the reason he
was honored with the award.
“The biggest joy of events like Celebration of Dreams is to see the
look on the faces of the children as they walk into the event,”
Eling said. “To watch these street-hardened kids’ mouths drop and
faces light up is a wonderful feeling. Most have never experienced a
sit-down formal dinner and award ceremony. By the end of the evening
the graduates are so pumped you can just see their self-esteem
growing. It’s a great feeling.”
Eling, who is an adoptive father, was also recognized for his
willingness to help the children involved with JFS and ProKids.
“Mark is always available to help, always puts the children first,”
said Charlotte Caples, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
program director at ProKids. “Mark doesn’t duck, even when he sees
us coming. When we tell him about a child’s needs, he moves an
entire bureaucracy to get it done. Mark is one of those amazing
people who never forgets that it’s all about the children.”
The Children’s Services supervisor also plays a major role in many
of the Foster Child Enrichment Council projects, including the
holiday gifts distribution and writing checks for Enrichment
Requests for foster children.
“I’m not sure where the passion (for helping children) comes from,”
Eling said. “All I know is that it feels good to help children. This
past weekend my wife and I watched three children who were 6 and 7
years old. We went on hikes in the creek and walks in the woods. We
roasted marshmallows on an open camp fire and just talked; campfires
always get kids talking. I can’t think of a better way to spend a
Sunday.”
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