RELATED: Butler County seeking new public assistance approach
“I think we’ve got several really sound approaches to developing assessments with organizations we have a good trusting relationships with,” Morrison said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to improve that process dramatically. There’s several different proposals that include that piece and although it’s not new and innovative, it is new and innovative in this arena.”
Several months ago the commissioners put on hold a $1.75 million renewal contract with Community Behavioral Health because the employment situation has changed dramatically since they first entered the partnership. The county contracted with CBH several years ago to help people with mental health and other issues who are on public assistance get and keep jobs.
He is modeling the programs after Commissioner Cindy Carpenter’s Motherhood and Maternity Addiction Services (MAMAS) wrap around program to get drug-addicted mothers clean which has been a success story.
The MAMAS program includes residential treatment, recovery housing, life skills training, job search assistance and a support system, among other services.
RELATED: MAMAS program works to get pregnant addicts clean for life
Morrison said he received three proposals for assessment services; two from substance abuse specialists and five training “that kind of runs the gamut from specific training and basic computer skills to more how to live your life training, like how to budget, how to manage money and how to do things in order to be successful.”
County Administrator Charlie Young acknowledged that the whole social services realm here needed improvement and the agency kicked it off with a complete overhaul of Children Services in 2014. The agency held a series of meetings with stakeholders and ended up making a series of changes that have resulted in fewer children being taken into custody.
An independent research study the agency commissioned bears out the supposition the revamp was a success.
“The results of this study combined with current research add to the ‘superiority of this model,’” according to the report. “This study showed that stronger alliances were associated with lower rates of child removal from the home, as well as higher rates of family reunification and suggested that a better working alliance may lead to a lower need for ongoing services.”
Morrison has also begun implementing other changes at JFS that involve work flow.
MORE: Butler County Children Service overhaul a success
“We have recognized that we need to change how we approach our work and we’ve implemented a lot of changes,” Young said. “Certainly in Children Services we’ve seen improvement. But also in JFS, we’re seeing improvements in processing time and that’s what JFS does to a large extent is process requests. Whether it’s food stamps or Medicaid, some type of assistance, it is trying to get it turned around to where the issue is dealt with quicker, more effectively, with fewer errors.”
Joel Potts, executive director of the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors’ Association, said Butler County is very innovative in its approach to finding better ways to serve their clients, or “building a better mousetrap” as he put it. He said a prime example is the opiate epidemic has inundated most other Children Services agencies in the state but here the caseloads are manageable.
“Butler is very progressive in how they approach public assistance programs and services and child welfare. I know they’ve had a lot of real successes …,” Potts said. “They are very good at pushing the envelope and looking to see ‘how can we do things better’.”
Morrison said he hopes to have three or four new contracts awarded by the end of September.
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