OHIO — The child welfare system in Ohio is struggling to keep up with the demand as the number of cases increase.

What You Need To Know

  • The opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed heavily on the child welfare system

  • Research shows children stay longer in foster care every time their case worker changes 

  • New funds are needed to address the influx of children coming into the system who have complex high acuity needs

Scott Britton, the Assistant Director of Public Children's Services Association of Ohio, said the agency has experienced staffing shortages like many other entities.

“The Children's Services workforce is really at a breaking point," Britton said. "Our caseworkers have been in the field for years with the opioid epidemic and then, during the pandemic lockdowns, they were still out knocking on doors, ensuring child safety, often without adequate protections. And now we see a great resignation across the country.”

He added that the turnover doesn’t just threaten kids’ safety, but it also affects the length of their stay in foster care.

“This was illustrated in a study in Milwaukee that showed that children generally there had a 75% chance of gaining permanency when they had one caseworker; but dropping or moving up to just two caseworkers over the life of their case, those chances of permanency went down to 17%," he said.

Britton noted that the individual agencies across the state don't have the capacity to place kids in adequate care settings that may be close to home. Besides that, the complexity of issues that children face these days is greater than in years past.

“We saw through a study… almost a quarter of children who came into custody in 2021 did so not primarily due to abuse or neglect, but because of their behavioral health challenges, their developmental or intellectual disabilities or their involvement with the juvenile justice system," Britton said.  

While the Public Children Services Association has already received state aid in previous budget cycles to assist with the crisis it faces, he said the new funds are necessary to address children being seen with complex high acuity needs.

"The kids who are coming into care have these very serious behavioral health challenges… We need more treatment options, hopefully more family centered placement options for them, so that they can stabilize and then return home," Britton said.