New report on Ohio’s children
Abuse and neglect reports:
Ohio: 116,216
Montgomery: 4,741
Greene: 1,436
Miami: 569
Warren: 741
Butler: 3,556
Clark: 1,294
Champaign: 429
Children awaiting adoption:
Ohio: 2,897
Montgomery: 24
Greene: 11
Miami: 17
Warren: 2
Butler: 89
Clark: 43
Champaign: 5
Children in protective custody:
Ohio: 11,721
Montgomery: 755
Greene: 126
Miami: 43
Warren: 66
Butler: 306
Clark: 124
Champaign: 9
Teen birth rates per 1,000 teens:
Nation: 42
Ohio: 41
Montgomery: 48.4
Greene: 20.1
Miami: 46.8
Warren: 21.8
Butler: 38.6
Clark: 58.6
Champaign: 47.3
Source: Public Children Services Association of Ohio, 2011-2012 Fact Book
COLUMBUS — Ohio leads the nation in the sharpest percentage drop in kids placed in foster care and the state’s investment in child protection ranks lowest in the country, according to a new report released Friday.
Between 2001 and 2009, Ohio saw a 42 percent drop in the number of children placed in out-of-home care and a 46 percent decrease in the number of kids awaiting adoption, according to the latest Fact Book from the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, which represents public child welfare agencies across the state.
PCSAO Executive Director Crystal Ward Allen attributes the success to a multi-pronged approach to helping families and Ohio being granted flexible rules for how it may spend federal child welfare money.
“These practices have assisted in our safe reduction of foster care use, significantly reducing the trauma experienced by Ohio children,” she said.
At the same time, reports of child abuse and neglect climbed 15 percent to 116,216 allegations in 2009.
Advocates for children are also concerned about these 2005 to 2009 trends:
• 23 percent increase in Ohioans on welfare.
• 58 percent increase in people on food stamps.
• 24 percent increase in families receiving subsidized child care.
• 2 percent drop in child support collections.
In 2009, federal money accounted for 49 percent of the $1 billion spent on child welfare in Ohio, local funds covered 41 percent and the state’s share was 10 percent, the report said.
In Ohio, 45 of 88 counties, including Montgomery and Greene, have local property tax levies to support child welfare. Counties without levies, including Miami and Warren, rely more heavily on state tax revenues and money from the Local Government Fund — which are slated to take big hits in the upcoming budget cycle.
Allen said her association is lobbying state senators to restore some of the proposed funding cuts now included in Gov. John Kasich’s budget plan.
In all, the state spends about $180.2 million a year on child welfare through various pots of money, but Kasich proposed cutting that to $119.5 million, PCSAO estimates. Ward Allen said she is hopeful that senators will restore some of the funding.
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