Ohio families are experiencing greater mental-health challenges coming out of the pandemic, and social services workers emphasized it makes it more difficult to place kids who need help in appropriate facilities. According to a report published earlier this year by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, 89% of counties experienced placements of youths whose needs were primarily behavioral health-related. Deanna Nichols-Stika, executive director of Wayne County Children s Services, explained caseworkers had options for residential placement and could select the provider who best met the needs of a child a decade ago. .
National Adoption Month comes to an end today, but in Tennessee, more than 9,000 children are in foster care and waiting for new families through adoption. A nonprofit organization is working to equip children and change their experience and outcomes. Carmen Brown, communications and marketing manager for Tennessee Kids Belong, said it starts with a family recruitment initiative, called the "I Belong Project." Children are the topics of videos presented to an online community interested in adoption. .
SEATTLE — Washington’s state-funded preschool program is one of only a handful in the country that increased available slots during the pandemic. But there’s a difference between having the funding