April 28, 2023 • 31 mins
In 2022, over 50,000 calls rang into Hamilton County's 513-241-KIDS hotline, and over 6,000 cases were opened for assessment. During the entire month, Hamilton County Job and Family Services has been sharing tips on how to prevent child abuse and support families. HCJFS Director Michael Patton and Deputy Director of Children's Services Alexandra Patsfall joined the Heart and Hustle Podcast to discuss the Child Abuse Prevention Month efforts and their #OneSmallThing campaign.
To learn more about Hamilton County, Ohio, our services and job openings, visit hamiltoncountyohio.gov.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jeff Aluotto (00:11):
Hello everyone and welcome to Heart and hustle in
Hamilton County, a podcastentirely dedicated to the people
and policies that form Hamiltoncounty government. Why the name
heart and hustle? Well bestdescribes the public servants
who make our local governmentwork. Each episode focuses on
creative solutions to thechallenges our 49 communities
face here in Hamilton County, aswell as our different county
(00:33):
departments tackle thosechallenges in local government
101, if you will, for listenerswho are curious and want to
learn more, I'm your host Jeffeluded me County Administrator
with Hamilton County and withme, as always, is our
communications manager BridgetDoherty. Hello, hello, hello,
hello. And during this episode,we're going to dive into the
world of children's services, adivision which is essentially
(00:55):
the largest department under theBoard of County Commissioners
here in Hamilton County, theHamilton County job and Family
Services Department. This is asession I've wanted to do for
quite some time, we've been muchdelayed in doing it, Bridget,
but we've finally gotten to it.
These employees of job andfamily services, all the
department, the employees ofJFS, and specifically, our
(01:17):
children's services, employees,these are people that get up
every single day, they come towork every single day, and they
do it to keep the children ofthis community in Hamilton
County safe. And it's it'shumbling to work with these
folks the passion they have forpublic service, the passion they
have for children in thiscommunity is just incredible.
(01:41):
And and I can't thank themenough for doing it. And not the
least of which is the two gueststhat we have. With us today. We
have director Michael Patten anddeputy director Alex paths fall,
who are here with us today inthe month of April, which is
child abuse prevention month. Sowe dedicate this month, every
(02:02):
year to bringing awareness tothe issue of child abuse and
recognizing the people whodedicate themselves to
protecting children. So Michael,Alex, welcome to the show.
Michael Patton (02:13):
Thank you for having us. Thank you, we're
gonna get this schedule. So I'mreally happy to be here to talk
about what we do and Child AbusePrevention Month is it's timely.
So it's April, and it's a goodopportunity to share what we do
and how we serve the public.
Jeff Aluotto (02:25):
And happy to have you here. So Michael, I can't
believe that this is actuallyit's not actually your first
podcast you showed up to ourholiday episode late and got
your picture taken withheadphones on and made it look
like you were part of thepodcast. But this is technically
your first podcast. So tell us alittle bit about yourself. You
are the director of the HamiltonCounty Department of job and
(02:49):
Family Services biggest countydepartment there is tell us a
little bit about yourself as theperson leading this
Unknown (02:53):
shooter. Sure. So again, Jeff, thanks for having
me. Thanks for putting us on theagenda, Bridget. So I'm Michael
Patten. I'm the director ofHamilton County job and family
services. I've been with theagency for 30 years, was
appointed director last January.
And so it's really been animportant opportunity for me as
a director to take the lead ofan organization that does such
(03:14):
good work. I grew up my wholecareer and JFS serving the
families and children ofHamilton County in one capacity
or another. And so I think froma child children's services
perspective, we've always beenone of the leaders in the county
with respect to the work that wedo, keeping children safe. And
I'm really happy that I was ableto take over a team that had
(03:36):
been established and had beenworking with families for over
the years doing great workkeeping families safe. And so
again, happy to be here happy totalk a little bit more about
what we're doing in childwelfare specifically. But yeah,
that's that's a little bit moreabout me. I'm originally from
Dayton, Ohio, got married andhave two children were empty
(03:59):
nesters been empty nesters forabout a year. So we're getting
adjusted to that my wife and Iwere having a lot of fun sort of
relearning one another andgetting to know one another, but
also just keeping up with ourkids and trying to make sure
that we're staying connectedwith them and where they're
going and their aspirations andthat kind of thing.
Bridget Doherty (04:22):
I like that Michael actually has a family of
public servants. Yeah. Yourwife's also in public service.
Yeah,
Michael Patton (04:27):
she is. So my wife, Bridget Patton has been
working for the city ofCincinnati for the last 10
years. She was worked under theCranley administration. So she
worked under previous mayor,Mayor John Cranley. And now she
is working in City Hall and sheis working with the City Council
(04:48):
member mica Owens as herdirector of engagement and so we
have a lot of fun and havingconversations about city and
county politics and service. Andso we've been we've been working
in the Social Service field foralmost all of our marriage, and
I've been married for 27 years.
So yeah,
Bridget Doherty (05:06):
that's fun. I had to give a shout out to
another Bridgette. So Alexmoving over to you give us an
idea of of what got you intosocial service and give us a
little bit of your background.
Alex Patsfall (05:18):
Okay, so I actually wasn't really social
work and social service wasn'tsomething that was in my kind of
purview. Originally, I got myundergrad in political science
at Ohio State. And after Igraduated, I got a job at
Hamilton County job and familyservices, doing eligibility for
(05:41):
daycare vouchers in 2005. And Idid that for about two years,
and then got a job in children'sservices. And so I kind of fell
into social work byhappenstance, and absolutely
fell in love with it. I fell inlove with the work. And I ended
up going back to school andgetting my master's in social
work. And I have been with theagency now for 18 years, and
(06:06):
I've had the opportunity toserve families in all of the
areas of Children's Services atthis point in my career. And so
I have been just very fortunateto be able to work with the
families in Hamilton County andensure safety for those
families. And it's just reallybeen a very, very rewarding
(06:27):
career that I happen to fallinto and fall in love with.
Jeff Aluotto (06:31):
That's awesome in you. I think with a lot of folks
in JFS, you see that they dospend their careers there, that
the passion for the work and thenature of what you all do is
something that you can't justget out of your blood really
easily. So thanks to both of youfor your career leadership, and
(06:51):
and moving through theorganization, you guys have to
take on different roles,different responsibilities to
help the organization at all ofits levels. So Michael, as we
start talking about children'sservices, a little bit more
detail, can you give us somestatistics, or just some higher
level information to help us inthe public who's listening, get
(07:15):
their hands around the extent ofthe work that is done through
JFS and Children's Services?
Unknown (07:20):
Yeah, sure, Jeff. And I really like to have these
conversations because not onlyin child welfare, but across the
board think I really enjoytalking with the public and
making the public aware of justhow much how many families we
serve in Hamblen County, andChildren's Services is no
different. So for example, lastyear, JFS served more than
(07:42):
24,000 children and families,more than 51,000 calls were made
to our 241 Kids hotline, andmore than 6000 cases were open
for assessment andinvestigation. In addition to
that, more than 1800 childrenand youth currently live in
foster care, and otherplacements within Hamilton
(08:03):
County. So that gives you someidea of the scope of what what
we do in the number of familiesthat we serve, either through
our direct contact when folkscall because they have a concern
about the safety of a child. Andthen we take that call, make an
assessment, make a determinationabout the nature of the call.
(08:23):
And then, if appropriate, wewill go out and do an assessment
make a determination aboutwhether or not we move forward
with substantiating abuse orneglect for that for that
particular job.
Jeff Aluotto (08:35):
And just Just a quick follow up on that,
Michael, just the number 24,000children and families. So this
is a county of 830,000 or so,individuals. So when you think
about that number 24,000Children and Families is huge. I
think there's a tendency forpeople to think and when you
think about views, dependent orneglected children to think, oh,
(09:00):
that's happening somewhere else.
That's not happening. In mycommunity. It's not happening
near me. It's not happening withme or my neighbor. But odds are,
it probably is have someone thatyou know, if you're listening to
this podcast, is a child or afamily that is in some way
connected with the servicesoffered by job and family
service. Absolutely.
Unknown (09:20):
And so going back to what I mentioned before, in
terms of the scope of who weconnect with all of our
programming at the county, mosttimes people find to be are
taken aback, you know, by thenumber of families in Hamilton
County that are connected to ourorganization in some way. So we
provide a safety net forfamilies. We keep children safe.
(09:41):
We provide financial support forfamilies in the community. We
provide childcare support. Wealso work in the workforce
development space. And so we ourservices run the gamut and so
we're really proud of that.
Bridget Doherty (09:56):
So Alex, we talked about earlier that it's
you know, ciao On AbusePrevention Month, and you know,
what are some of the factorsthat kind of contribute to child
abuse and neglect?
Unknown (10:11):
Often these factors are some of the things that we all
see in all of our families everyday there are underlying mental
health, substance abuse issues,access to resources, lack of
support systems and or resourceswithin their own communities. So
(10:32):
those are some of the underlyingfactors that can contribute to
child maltreatment. But also,when you're looking for signs,
you usually see a markeddifference in how a child or
adult is behaving or acting thanyou are used to seeing. Child
abuse, obviously, when it isphysical is sometimes you can
(10:56):
see, right you they havebruises, they have injuries,
etc. But there are someinsidious family conditions, sex
abuse, etc, that you're notgoing to be able to see. And so
you really want to look forchanges within that family
within that child, if a childsuddenly becomes not visible in
the community, that should be aconcern if they're pulled out of
(11:18):
school, daycare, etc. So some ofthose are some of the things we
look at when we are determiningif we are going to be involved
or have an intervention with afamily.
Bridget Doherty (11:33):
So with with the signs of abuse, and neglect,
not always being being visible,and just trying to understand,
you know, the changes that yousee, what what do you tell
neighbors, friends, people thatare seeing this what's what's
their first course of action?
Unknown (11:51):
Well, really, it depends on their relationship
with the family, right. And soif they have a relationship with
a family, we would like to seeour community step up and
support those families and helpthem and help them access
resources and help them to getto a place where we can ensure
child safety, right, we reallywant to go back to a community
(12:13):
of support around thesefamilies. And this is not just a
child welfare issue. But really,this is a community issue that
we all have a responsibility inensuring safety for these
children. So that would be mythought about first steps.
Obviously, if you don't have agood relationship with the
(12:34):
family, or you don't know, butyou have significant concern,
you can make a call to two forone kids and report that
information.
Bridget Doherty (12:43):
Oh, Michael, I kind of feel like this goes
along with one of the campaignsthat you guys kicked off that
people might have seen a hashtagone small thing. Can you talk
about the meaning behind that?
Unknown (12:55):
Yeah. So this, this is a really good segue into
piggybacking on what Alex talkedabout in terms of this being a
community issue. And so I thinkthere are times when people feel
like getting involved with thechild welfare system might be
daunting, it might be somethingthat they're not prepared to do
(13:16):
fully, because of the level ofinvolvement and responsibility,
quite frankly, and time thatgoes into making that kind of
commitment. And so what we wantto do is to really bridge that
gap and let people know throughour social media campaign this
month, that you can do one smallthing, there are things that you
can do in the in the community,to volunteer to mentor, to be a
(13:40):
coach to be someone in thecommunity that actively involves
themselves with activities thatyour families and youth, we
know, can take advantage of andhelp to create a safe space for
our kids and our and ourfamilies to thrive. And so our
goal with the with the hashtag,one small thing is to really
(14:03):
have people think about howtheir actions on a day to day
basis, even if they're smallactions can really contribute to
a more safe environment for ourchildren and our families.
Jeff Aluotto (14:14):
And Michael, on on that note, so we know we always
need more foster parents. Talkabout some of the things that
might encourage people to fosterin this community.
Unknown (14:26):
Yeah, so there are a couple of things. One really
emanated from the board thisyear, which I thought was a
really great idea that kind ofsupports children that we
currently have in care. It'scalled beyond your imagination.
And so we're really gratefulthat we are we have a supportive
community, a supportive tax basethat allows us to take advantage
(14:49):
of opportunities for youth thatwe have in care that are between
the ages of 14 and 18 years oldwho can really leverage our
funding to Get access toprograms and services and
activities that they may nototherwise have an opportunity to
take advantage of. So concerts,plays, enrichment, activities,
(15:10):
camps, things of that nature, weare in a position now to try to
support all of our foster careproviders or networks, and
actively reaching out to themreaching out to families and
children who are supporting thatin really giving these
opportunities to families totake advantage of those kinds of
(15:31):
services.
Jeff Aluotto (15:32):
And it's maybe a question, this may be a question
for both of you. But are therespecific? Are there certain
kinds of foster parents that youneed most?
Unknown (15:43):
Yes, so we obviously are struggling to find
sufficient amount of homes toplace our children and we do. So
we have been very creative. Andwe have implemented incentives
for to incentivize fosterparents to take our older youth,
(16:04):
our teenage children are oftenvery hard to place. And so we
are offering some additionalincentives for foster parents,
we also really, really try ourhardest to keep sibling sets
together, especially when youhave large sibling sets. And so
we really need foster parentsthat are willing to take those
(16:24):
older youth or take our moremedically fragile youth, or our
sibling sets, small or large.
Those are the kinds of differentpopulations that we really
struggle to place in placetogether. And in a place where
we can have them safe andtogether and reunified with
(16:47):
their families.
Bridget Doherty (16:52):
What can What do you say to parents or to
potential families that aren'treally ready to foster just yet?
What can they do to getinvolved? There's
Unknown (17:01):
a lot of different things you can do to get
involved. Obviously, you canvolunteer to be a mentor, we
have different programs that wehave had contracted with our
youth to help them get throughhigher education or to mentor
them through those capacities.
Bridget Doherty (17:20):
On the net, let's talk about recruiting
right now on the children'sservices workers. Michael, what
type of incentives are there outthere?
Unknown (17:28):
Well, you know, this is something that the state is
recognized in this is not alocal issue, specifically. But
this is really a nationwideissue of caseworker shortages in
the child welfare area. And sowe have been fortunate to
receive some funding from thestate of Ohio, a retention
(17:52):
funding that we have access to.
And so we are offering now up to$3,000 for new hires to come on
board. And really, you know,this is a this is a calling and
Jeff mentioned that before. So alot of what we try to talk about
is the fact that this, thiswork, and my experience in Alex
mentioned this before, is reallya calling but at the same time
(18:13):
we understand that the economyis is plays a part in people
wanting to come and work and dothis work. So we offer a $3,000
incentive for new hires to comeon board. We also have the
county has tuitionreimbursement, which we're
really proud of that that wasreinstituted recently, we offer
paid parking for staff that worka job and Family Services, we
(18:38):
are downtown location. And weunderstood over the years that
that could certainly be abarrier for folks who are
interested in doing this work.
The public services loanforgiveness program, a federal
program that the federalgovernment has been pushing and
relaxing some of therequirements to have your
student loans forgiven at thefederal level is still ongoing.
(19:01):
And so we have some examples ofstaff that work EJ Fs right now
that have had substantial loansforgiven, you know, in the in
the 10s of 1000s of dollars. Andso I think that's also an
incentive that I'd like to pointout. And then finally, we for
the last since COVID, we havebeen able to offer a hybrid work
(19:22):
schedule for our child welfarestaff. And so I think it's makes
it much more flexible when theyneed to be in the community.
They are making visits, they'reseeing children, they can have a
home base and make those makethat travel arrangement a little
bit more flexible without havingto come downtown and to a brick
(19:44):
and mortar location on a regularbasis. And so I think the the
types of applicants that we'reseeing are demanding that we
have some work life balance andso we're trying to be responsive
to the needs of of the newgeneration of folks that we see
that we want to make sure thatwe're as appealing as possible
(20:05):
to those those folks.
Jeff Aluotto (20:07):
And Michael, speaking of workforce, so this
job, like many other jobs withmaybe as much, if not more than
in other jobs, is incrediblyrewarding, but also very
challenging. Right. So what doyou what advice do you have for
new children's services workerswho may be entering the
(20:28):
profession in the field?
Unknown (20:30):
Well, I will start and I'm going to kick it over to
Alex because she has beenworking in the field directly,
but I'm from my experience, atjob and family services. And I
alluded to this before, when Ihave an opportunity to talk to
new hires and orientation, Italk about the impact that the
work that we do has on familiesin our communities. And I think
(20:50):
the reward comes from knowingthat even on your bad days, or
on days, where it might be alittle bit difficult in terms of
what you're dealing with. Everystep that we take to reunify
family, or to keep a child safeor to create a permanent, loving
household for a family issomething that is is significant
(21:11):
in the life of a family. And Ithink a lot of the things that
that are that bring people toour job. And quite frankly, the
workforce that we have there,whether it's in child welfare,
or in child support, is thatthere's a commitment to
providing important service tothe community that gets people
(21:33):
from where they are to wherethey want to be in some
capacity. So the reward is thereat JFS. In all of the
departments, no matter what youdo from the mailroom to being
the director, every day you makedecisions that I think improve
the lives of families.
And I think for me, the firstthing I would tell any
(21:53):
children's service worker who'snewly in the field is to give
yourself grace. This is a very,very complicated system to
learn. And it interfaces withall different systems within the
county, we interface with thecourts with juvenile court with
the prosecutor's office. And soI think as adults, we really
want to feel competent in ourroles. And and in children's
(22:17):
service worker role, you reallycan't actually achieve a level
of competence to understand allof those systems and all that
work until about two years intothe role. And so what we see is
we have a turnover around 18months. And so I always
encourage workers who kind ofare hitting that wall or feeling
that burnout or not feeling likethey're the most competent to
(22:40):
seek out other opportunities.
The great thing about children'sservices in about JFS. And I've
taken the opportunity through myown career is you can move
throughout different areas ofchildren's services, and you can
learn new things. And you candevelop different empathy for
your peers that are doingdifferent work within the same
department. And so I alwaysreally just encourage children,
(23:03):
service workers to be realisticabout their roles and what it's
going to take and how to getthere.
Bridget Doherty (23:12):
So I'm so glad you said the word empathy. In
I'm wondering, like, what arethe characteristics are you kind
of looking for in thesechildren's services workers?
Unknown (23:20):
So the main thing I think, for we we want lifetime
learners, right, the childwelfare field is ever evolving.
And we really want people thatare continuing to learn and
develop and grow. But there areseveral characteristics, I think
that are really important, areimportant. You really, really
have to know how to engagefamilies and talk to people,
(23:42):
right and talk to all differentkinds of people and talk about
difficult things in a way thatpeople you can show empathy and
compassion and partner withfamilies to make their kids feel
safe, as opposed to coming at itas kind of an authoritative
level is really partnering. Sothat engagement piece with
children's service and workersis extremely important, as well
(24:04):
as organization, obviously,casework, there's still a lot of
paperwork. And so you really dohave to be organized. But
luckily, we are a veryinnovative County we have lots
of new technology that we'reusing to help caseworkers to
complete those tasks we have.
They have surfaces they can takeout in the field and type while
(24:25):
they're in visits. We have adictation software now where
they can dictate their notesthrough that service and get
their notes emailed written tothem. And so we've been very
fortunate in Hamilton County tobe kind of on the front end of
technology for these caseworkersso they can have the best chance
at success to work with theirfamilies.
Jeff Aluotto (24:48):
And so, kind of getting it to the wrap up point
here. We've got a couple ofminutes left and want to end on
a on a fun note here. So everyyear this is for both Alex and
Michael here ever A year, youguys hold a special event called
the celebration of dreams. I'vebeen to that event several
times, it is absolutelyfantastic and is just one of the
(25:12):
most incredible events, I thinkthat we do here at the county.
So for our listeners who may notknow, tell us a little bit about
the celebration of dreams andwhat it is and what makes it so
special.
Unknown (25:23):
Sure. So this is, interestingly enough, as the
director, I was able to attendone of the Celebrate celebration
of dreams event last year at theHall of Mirrors for the first
time, which was really, reallyincredible opportunity. But it
gives us an opportunity toreally acknowledge and highlight
our, our children that have beenwith us that have graduated from
(25:44):
school, and to give them anopportunity to really have the
focus be on them in what they'vebeen able to overcome in the
child welfare system. And somany of them participate in
their high school graduation,some do not. But this really
gives the organization and thefamilies and the foster parents
and those that have been workingwith the family, throughout
(26:07):
their journey in child welfareto come together. And really
honoring knowledge, theaccomplishment of the children
of graduating from high schooland the focus and the energy.
And the time is really dedicatedto them on that night. And so we
really feel great that we areable to do that annually around
the graduation of our kids incare. And last year was just a
(26:31):
really incredible experience forus to witness the children and
to really see where they want togo what their interests are, and
have them share with their peersthat have been in in in foster
care with them and theirfamilies, their foster families
and caseworkers and permanencystaff really just highlight the
(26:52):
work that they've done along theway and congratulate them for a
job well done.
Bridget Doherty (26:56):
It really is a fantastic event. And it's so
interesting, you know, when yousee the graduate surrounded by
all those people that havehelped them get to that point,
and it really is this groupeffort and celebration is the
neatest and they really they getsome, you know, the
communications team that youhave a JFS does a great job
packaging the whole night toreally make it you know, a
(27:19):
celebration of the kids and inreally focus on almost like an a
paparazzi level of, of takingtheir pictures and making this
the biggest deal ever. So it'sit's fantastic.
Jeff Aluotto (27:30):
The keynote speakers that you guys have been
able to get for this have justbeen fascinating you from
country music stars, to rapmusic stars to other people, big
names in the community, I bringthat not just to say, hey, it's
the names. But the vast majorityof these people again, going
back to the very first thing wetalked about about the number of
(27:50):
individuals who are touched bythe services you guys do, most
of the keynote speakers, andprobably all of them are folks
who have been through this,maybe not here in Hamilton
County, but had been through thechild welfare system. And it's
just great to give the kids onthat night, the exposure to
other folks who have beenthrough the system have been
successful and moved on withtheir life and found a way to,
(28:11):
to move through challenges thatthey face. So just a fantastic,
fantastic event. So as we'refinalizing here, someone is
listening to this podcast, andthey want to know, how do I take
the next step? How do I getinvolved in exploring foster
care? How do we get involvedwith some of the other events or
(28:32):
services that Jeff has has tooffer? What's the best thing for
them to do
Unknown (28:36):
the best option for the public who wants to know more,
learn more, it's got hckids.org, h c kids.org. All of
the information we have on ourchild welfare system, how to get
involved, how to becomeconnected to us, no matter what
level you are now, whetheryou're thinking about it, or
(28:56):
whether you're ready to commit,go to eight, see kids.org.
There's all sorts of informationthere that describe what it
means to be a foster parent inHamilton County. And so I would
certainly ask if you'reinterested to go there for more
information.
Jeff Aluotto (29:15):
Excellent. Well, Alex, Michael, thank you so much
for joining us today. And onceagain, thank you for all that
you guys do every single day onbehalf of Hamilton County and to
help keep kids here in HamiltonCounty safe. And for all that
you do just in the organizationof job and Family Services. I
cannot tell you how much yourdedication and services but
(29:39):
humbling and on behalf of everyresident of Hamilton County,
thank you for all you do forthis community. Thanks for
having Thank you for having us.
And so with that, Bridget on onbehalf of my co host Bridget and
on behalf of my cell phone thathas continued to ring and Buzz
throughout this entire podcast Iapologize for that. Thanks to
you for Listening to EpisodeOne, season three of heart and
(30:01):
hustle in Hamilton County.
Subscribe to us on Applepodcast, Spotify and other
providers. You can find thispodcast on our website at
Hamilton County ohio.gov on thecounty administrator's webpage.
So thanks to all of you forlistening and we will see you
next time. As I believeBridgette, we're going to be out
(30:22):
in the field, electrocutingfish.
Bridget Doherty (30:25):
Okay, so we're going to, we've been trying to
wait for spring to come by and Ididn't understand when you said
we're going to electrocute fish,what that meant. And so I think
I kind of have an idea.
Jeff Aluotto (30:36):
Do you think this was like a hobby or like, well,
Bridget Doherty (30:39):
I you know, I've been with the county for a
little while, and I had neverheard of any county department
doing that.
Jeff Aluotto (30:46):
So we're going to next at our next session or next
podcast, we're going to takepeople inside the world of the
Soil and Water ConservationDistrict, and what electrocuting
fish means in the context ofsampling biodiversity in our
local waterways. And we're nothurting fish. We are literally
just sampling the types of fishthat are out there to test for
(31:08):
stream health. For those folkswho might be listening and think
we're up to nefarious purposeshere.
Bridget Doherty (31:13):
It's an actual shock, though, right? It's a
little shock.
Jeff Aluotto (31:16):
You have never felt in myself, but I understand
it's not enough to actually doany permanent harm. But we are
going to do it. And we're goingto be with our Soil and Water
Conservation Districtprofessionals who are going to
walk us through it and we'regonna have a great time doing it
and we're going to talk abouthow they help protect the
environment. here locally inHamilton County.
Bridget Doherty (31:35):
Out in the wild in the elements. Exactly. All
right. And I do I do the outromusic again. I've kind of messed
that up. Yeah, it's been awhile. So alright, let's take us
out.
Jeff Aluotto (31:47):
Go for it.
Hello everyone and welcome to Heart and hustle in
Hamilton County, a podcastentirely dedicated to the people
and policies that form Hamiltoncounty government. Why the name
heart and hustle? Well bestdescribes the public servants
who make our local governmentwork. Each episode focuses on
creative solutions to thechallenges our 49 communities
face here in Hamilton County, aswell as our different county
(00:33):
departments tackle thosechallenges in local government
101, if you will, for listenerswho are curious and want to
learn more, I'm your host Jeffeluded me County Administrator
with Hamilton County and withme, as always, is our
communications manager BridgetDoherty. Hello, hello, hello,
hello. And during this episode,we're going to dive into the
world of children's services, adivision which is essentially
(00:55):
the largest department under theBoard of County Commissioners
here in Hamilton County, theHamilton County job and Family
Services Department. This is asession I've wanted to do for
quite some time, we've been muchdelayed in doing it, Bridget,
but we've finally gotten to it.
These employees of job andfamily services, all the
department, the employees ofJFS, and specifically, our
(01:17):
children's services, employees,these are people that get up
every single day, they come towork every single day, and they
do it to keep the children ofthis community in Hamilton
County safe. And it's it'shumbling to work with these
folks the passion they have forpublic service, the passion they
have for children in thiscommunity is just incredible.
(01:41):
And and I can't thank themenough for doing it. And not the
least of which is the two gueststhat we have. With us today. We
have director Michael Patten anddeputy director Alex paths fall,
who are here with us today inthe month of April, which is
child abuse prevention month. Sowe dedicate this month, every
(02:02):
year to bringing awareness tothe issue of child abuse and
recognizing the people whodedicate themselves to
protecting children. So Michael,Alex, welcome to the show.
Michael Patton (02:13):
Thank you for having us. Thank you, we're
gonna get this schedule. So I'mreally happy to be here to talk
about what we do and Child AbusePrevention Month is it's timely.
So it's April, and it's a goodopportunity to share what we do
and how we serve the public.
Jeff Aluotto (02:25):
And happy to have you here. So Michael, I can't
believe that this is actuallyit's not actually your first
podcast you showed up to ourholiday episode late and got
your picture taken withheadphones on and made it look
like you were part of thepodcast. But this is technically
your first podcast. So tell us alittle bit about yourself. You
are the director of the HamiltonCounty Department of job and
(02:49):
Family Services biggest countydepartment there is tell us a
little bit about yourself as theperson leading this
Unknown (02:53):
shooter. Sure. So again, Jeff, thanks for having
me. Thanks for putting us on theagenda, Bridget. So I'm Michael
Patten. I'm the director ofHamilton County job and family
services. I've been with theagency for 30 years, was
appointed director last January.
And so it's really been animportant opportunity for me as
a director to take the lead ofan organization that does such
(03:14):
good work. I grew up my wholecareer and JFS serving the
families and children ofHamilton County in one capacity
or another. And so I think froma child children's services
perspective, we've always beenone of the leaders in the county
with respect to the work that wedo, keeping children safe. And
I'm really happy that I was ableto take over a team that had
(03:36):
been established and had beenworking with families for over
the years doing great workkeeping families safe. And so
again, happy to be here happy totalk a little bit more about
what we're doing in childwelfare specifically. But yeah,
that's that's a little bit moreabout me. I'm originally from
Dayton, Ohio, got married andhave two children were empty
(03:59):
nesters been empty nesters forabout a year. So we're getting
adjusted to that my wife and Iwere having a lot of fun sort of
relearning one another andgetting to know one another, but
also just keeping up with ourkids and trying to make sure
that we're staying connectedwith them and where they're
going and their aspirations andthat kind of thing.
Bridget Doherty (04:22):
I like that Michael actually has a family of
public servants. Yeah. Yourwife's also in public service.
Yeah,
Michael Patton (04:27):
she is. So my wife, Bridget Patton has been
working for the city ofCincinnati for the last 10
years. She was worked under theCranley administration. So she
worked under previous mayor,Mayor John Cranley. And now she
is working in City Hall and sheis working with the City Council
(04:48):
member mica Owens as herdirector of engagement and so we
have a lot of fun and havingconversations about city and
county politics and service. Andso we've been we've been working
in the Social Service field foralmost all of our marriage, and
I've been married for 27 years.
So yeah,
Bridget Doherty (05:06):
that's fun. I had to give a shout out to
another Bridgette. So Alexmoving over to you give us an
idea of of what got you intosocial service and give us a
little bit of your background.
Alex Patsfall (05:18):
Okay, so I actually wasn't really social
work and social service wasn'tsomething that was in my kind of
purview. Originally, I got myundergrad in political science
at Ohio State. And after Igraduated, I got a job at
Hamilton County job and familyservices, doing eligibility for
(05:41):
daycare vouchers in 2005. And Idid that for about two years,
and then got a job in children'sservices. And so I kind of fell
into social work byhappenstance, and absolutely
fell in love with it. I fell inlove with the work. And I ended
up going back to school andgetting my master's in social
work. And I have been with theagency now for 18 years, and
(06:06):
I've had the opportunity toserve families in all of the
areas of Children's Services atthis point in my career. And so
I have been just very fortunateto be able to work with the
families in Hamilton County andensure safety for those
families. And it's just reallybeen a very, very rewarding
(06:27):
career that I happen to fallinto and fall in love with.
Jeff Aluotto (06:31):
That's awesome in you. I think with a lot of folks
in JFS, you see that they dospend their careers there, that
the passion for the work and thenature of what you all do is
something that you can't justget out of your blood really
easily. So thanks to both of youfor your career leadership, and
(06:51):
and moving through theorganization, you guys have to
take on different roles,different responsibilities to
help the organization at all ofits levels. So Michael, as we
start talking about children'sservices, a little bit more
detail, can you give us somestatistics, or just some higher
level information to help us inthe public who's listening, get
(07:15):
their hands around the extent ofthe work that is done through
JFS and Children's Services?
Unknown (07:20):
Yeah, sure, Jeff. And I really like to have these
conversations because not onlyin child welfare, but across the
board think I really enjoytalking with the public and
making the public aware of justhow much how many families we
serve in Hamblen County, andChildren's Services is no
different. So for example, lastyear, JFS served more than
(07:42):
24,000 children and families,more than 51,000 calls were made
to our 241 Kids hotline, andmore than 6000 cases were open
for assessment andinvestigation. In addition to
that, more than 1800 childrenand youth currently live in
foster care, and otherplacements within Hamilton
(08:03):
County. So that gives you someidea of the scope of what what
we do in the number of familiesthat we serve, either through
our direct contact when folkscall because they have a concern
about the safety of a child. Andthen we take that call, make an
assessment, make a determinationabout the nature of the call.
(08:23):
And then, if appropriate, wewill go out and do an assessment
make a determination aboutwhether or not we move forward
with substantiating abuse orneglect for that for that
particular job.
Jeff Aluotto (08:35):
And just Just a quick follow up on that,
Michael, just the number 24,000children and families. So this
is a county of 830,000 or so,individuals. So when you think
about that number 24,000Children and Families is huge. I
think there's a tendency forpeople to think and when you
think about views, dependent orneglected children to think, oh,
(09:00):
that's happening somewhere else.
That's not happening. In mycommunity. It's not happening
near me. It's not happening withme or my neighbor. But odds are,
it probably is have someone thatyou know, if you're listening to
this podcast, is a child or afamily that is in some way
connected with the servicesoffered by job and family
service. Absolutely.
Unknown (09:20):
And so going back to what I mentioned before, in
terms of the scope of who weconnect with all of our
programming at the county, mosttimes people find to be are
taken aback, you know, by thenumber of families in Hamilton
County that are connected to ourorganization in some way. So we
provide a safety net forfamilies. We keep children safe.
(09:41):
We provide financial support forfamilies in the community. We
provide childcare support. Wealso work in the workforce
development space. And so we ourservices run the gamut and so
we're really proud of that.
Bridget Doherty (09:56):
So Alex, we talked about earlier that it's
you know, ciao On AbusePrevention Month, and you know,
what are some of the factorsthat kind of contribute to child
abuse and neglect?
Unknown (10:11):
Often these factors are some of the things that we all
see in all of our families everyday there are underlying mental
health, substance abuse issues,access to resources, lack of
support systems and or resourceswithin their own communities. So
(10:32):
those are some of the underlyingfactors that can contribute to
child maltreatment. But also,when you're looking for signs,
you usually see a markeddifference in how a child or
adult is behaving or acting thanyou are used to seeing. Child
abuse, obviously, when it isphysical is sometimes you can
(10:56):
see, right you they havebruises, they have injuries,
etc. But there are someinsidious family conditions, sex
abuse, etc, that you're notgoing to be able to see. And so
you really want to look forchanges within that family
within that child, if a childsuddenly becomes not visible in
the community, that should be aconcern if they're pulled out of
(11:18):
school, daycare, etc. So some ofthose are some of the things we
look at when we are determiningif we are going to be involved
or have an intervention with afamily.
Bridget Doherty (11:33):
So with with the signs of abuse, and neglect,
not always being being visible,and just trying to understand,
you know, the changes that yousee, what what do you tell
neighbors, friends, people thatare seeing this what's what's
their first course of action?
Unknown (11:51):
Well, really, it depends on their relationship
with the family, right. And soif they have a relationship with
a family, we would like to seeour community step up and
support those families and helpthem and help them access
resources and help them to getto a place where we can ensure
child safety, right, we reallywant to go back to a community
(12:13):
of support around thesefamilies. And this is not just a
child welfare issue. But really,this is a community issue that
we all have a responsibility inensuring safety for these
children. So that would be mythought about first steps.
Obviously, if you don't have agood relationship with the
(12:34):
family, or you don't know, butyou have significant concern,
you can make a call to two forone kids and report that
information.
Bridget Doherty (12:43):
Oh, Michael, I kind of feel like this goes
along with one of the campaignsthat you guys kicked off that
people might have seen a hashtagone small thing. Can you talk
about the meaning behind that?
Unknown (12:55):
Yeah. So this, this is a really good segue into
piggybacking on what Alex talkedabout in terms of this being a
community issue. And so I thinkthere are times when people feel
like getting involved with thechild welfare system might be
daunting, it might be somethingthat they're not prepared to do
(13:16):
fully, because of the level ofinvolvement and responsibility,
quite frankly, and time thatgoes into making that kind of
commitment. And so what we wantto do is to really bridge that
gap and let people know throughour social media campaign this
month, that you can do one smallthing, there are things that you
can do in the in the community,to volunteer to mentor, to be a
(13:40):
coach to be someone in thecommunity that actively involves
themselves with activities thatyour families and youth, we
know, can take advantage of andhelp to create a safe space for
our kids and our and ourfamilies to thrive. And so our
goal with the with the hashtag,one small thing is to really
(14:03):
have people think about howtheir actions on a day to day
basis, even if they're smallactions can really contribute to
a more safe environment for ourchildren and our families.
Jeff Aluotto (14:14):
And Michael, on on that note, so we know we always
need more foster parents. Talkabout some of the things that
might encourage people to fosterin this community.
Unknown (14:26):
Yeah, so there are a couple of things. One really
emanated from the board thisyear, which I thought was a
really great idea that kind ofsupports children that we
currently have in care. It'scalled beyond your imagination.
And so we're really gratefulthat we are we have a supportive
community, a supportive tax basethat allows us to take advantage
(14:49):
of opportunities for youth thatwe have in care that are between
the ages of 14 and 18 years oldwho can really leverage our
funding to Get access toprograms and services and
activities that they may nototherwise have an opportunity to
take advantage of. So concerts,plays, enrichment, activities,
(15:10):
camps, things of that nature, weare in a position now to try to
support all of our foster careproviders or networks, and
actively reaching out to themreaching out to families and
children who are supporting thatin really giving these
opportunities to families totake advantage of those kinds of
(15:31):
services.
Jeff Aluotto (15:32):
And it's maybe a question, this may be a question
for both of you. But are therespecific? Are there certain
kinds of foster parents that youneed most?
Unknown (15:43):
Yes, so we obviously are struggling to find
sufficient amount of homes toplace our children and we do. So
we have been very creative. Andwe have implemented incentives
for to incentivize fosterparents to take our older youth,
(16:04):
our teenage children are oftenvery hard to place. And so we
are offering some additionalincentives for foster parents,
we also really, really try ourhardest to keep sibling sets
together, especially when youhave large sibling sets. And so
we really need foster parentsthat are willing to take those
(16:24):
older youth or take our moremedically fragile youth, or our
sibling sets, small or large.
Those are the kinds of differentpopulations that we really
struggle to place in placetogether. And in a place where
we can have them safe andtogether and reunified with
(16:47):
their families.
Bridget Doherty (16:52):
What can What do you say to parents or to
potential families that aren'treally ready to foster just yet?
What can they do to getinvolved? There's
Unknown (17:01):
a lot of different things you can do to get
involved. Obviously, you canvolunteer to be a mentor, we
have different programs that wehave had contracted with our
youth to help them get throughhigher education or to mentor
them through those capacities.
Bridget Doherty (17:20):
On the net, let's talk about recruiting
right now on the children'sservices workers. Michael, what
type of incentives are there outthere?
Unknown (17:28):
Well, you know, this is something that the state is
recognized in this is not alocal issue, specifically. But
this is really a nationwideissue of caseworker shortages in
the child welfare area. And sowe have been fortunate to
receive some funding from thestate of Ohio, a retention
(17:52):
funding that we have access to.
And so we are offering now up to$3,000 for new hires to come on
board. And really, you know,this is a this is a calling and
Jeff mentioned that before. So alot of what we try to talk about
is the fact that this, thiswork, and my experience in Alex
mentioned this before, is reallya calling but at the same time
(18:13):
we understand that the economyis is plays a part in people
wanting to come and work and dothis work. So we offer a $3,000
incentive for new hires to comeon board. We also have the
county has tuitionreimbursement, which we're
really proud of that that wasreinstituted recently, we offer
paid parking for staff that worka job and Family Services, we
(18:38):
are downtown location. And weunderstood over the years that
that could certainly be abarrier for folks who are
interested in doing this work.
The public services loanforgiveness program, a federal
program that the federalgovernment has been pushing and
relaxing some of therequirements to have your
student loans forgiven at thefederal level is still ongoing.
(19:01):
And so we have some examples ofstaff that work EJ Fs right now
that have had substantial loansforgiven, you know, in the in
the 10s of 1000s of dollars. Andso I think that's also an
incentive that I'd like to pointout. And then finally, we for
the last since COVID, we havebeen able to offer a hybrid work
(19:22):
schedule for our child welfarestaff. And so I think it's makes
it much more flexible when theyneed to be in the community.
They are making visits, they'reseeing children, they can have a
home base and make those makethat travel arrangement a little
bit more flexible without havingto come downtown and to a brick
(19:44):
and mortar location on a regularbasis. And so I think the the
types of applicants that we'reseeing are demanding that we
have some work life balance andso we're trying to be responsive
to the needs of of the newgeneration of folks that we see
that we want to make sure thatwe're as appealing as possible
(20:05):
to those those folks.
Jeff Aluotto (20:07):
And Michael, speaking of workforce, so this
job, like many other jobs withmaybe as much, if not more than
in other jobs, is incrediblyrewarding, but also very
challenging. Right. So what doyou what advice do you have for
new children's services workerswho may be entering the
(20:28):
profession in the field?
Unknown (20:30):
Well, I will start and I'm going to kick it over to
Alex because she has beenworking in the field directly,
but I'm from my experience, atjob and family services. And I
alluded to this before, when Ihave an opportunity to talk to
new hires and orientation, Italk about the impact that the
work that we do has on familiesin our communities. And I think
(20:50):
the reward comes from knowingthat even on your bad days, or
on days, where it might be alittle bit difficult in terms of
what you're dealing with. Everystep that we take to reunify
family, or to keep a child safeor to create a permanent, loving
household for a family issomething that is is significant
(21:11):
in the life of a family. And Ithink a lot of the things that
that are that bring people toour job. And quite frankly, the
workforce that we have there,whether it's in child welfare,
or in child support, is thatthere's a commitment to
providing important service tothe community that gets people
(21:33):
from where they are to wherethey want to be in some
capacity. So the reward is thereat JFS. In all of the
departments, no matter what youdo from the mailroom to being
the director, every day you makedecisions that I think improve
the lives of families.
And I think for me, the firstthing I would tell any
(21:53):
children's service worker who'snewly in the field is to give
yourself grace. This is a very,very complicated system to
learn. And it interfaces withall different systems within the
county, we interface with thecourts with juvenile court with
the prosecutor's office. And soI think as adults, we really
want to feel competent in ourroles. And and in children's
(22:17):
service worker role, you reallycan't actually achieve a level
of competence to understand allof those systems and all that
work until about two years intothe role. And so what we see is
we have a turnover around 18months. And so I always
encourage workers who kind ofare hitting that wall or feeling
that burnout or not feeling likethey're the most competent to
(22:40):
seek out other opportunities.
The great thing about children'sservices in about JFS. And I've
taken the opportunity through myown career is you can move
throughout different areas ofchildren's services, and you can
learn new things. And you candevelop different empathy for
your peers that are doingdifferent work within the same
department. And so I alwaysreally just encourage children,
(23:03):
service workers to be realisticabout their roles and what it's
going to take and how to getthere.
Bridget Doherty (23:12):
So I'm so glad you said the word empathy. In
I'm wondering, like, what arethe characteristics are you kind
of looking for in thesechildren's services workers?
Unknown (23:20):
So the main thing I think, for we we want lifetime
learners, right, the childwelfare field is ever evolving.
And we really want people thatare continuing to learn and
develop and grow. But there areseveral characteristics, I think
that are really important, areimportant. You really, really
have to know how to engagefamilies and talk to people,
(23:42):
right and talk to all differentkinds of people and talk about
difficult things in a way thatpeople you can show empathy and
compassion and partner withfamilies to make their kids feel
safe, as opposed to coming at itas kind of an authoritative
level is really partnering. Sothat engagement piece with
children's service and workersis extremely important, as well
(24:04):
as organization, obviously,casework, there's still a lot of
paperwork. And so you really dohave to be organized. But
luckily, we are a veryinnovative County we have lots
of new technology that we'reusing to help caseworkers to
complete those tasks we have.
They have surfaces they can takeout in the field and type while
(24:25):
they're in visits. We have adictation software now where
they can dictate their notesthrough that service and get
their notes emailed written tothem. And so we've been very
fortunate in Hamilton County tobe kind of on the front end of
technology for these caseworkersso they can have the best chance
at success to work with theirfamilies.
Jeff Aluotto (24:48):
And so, kind of getting it to the wrap up point
here. We've got a couple ofminutes left and want to end on
a on a fun note here. So everyyear this is for both Alex and
Michael here ever A year, youguys hold a special event called
the celebration of dreams. I'vebeen to that event several
times, it is absolutelyfantastic and is just one of the
(25:12):
most incredible events, I thinkthat we do here at the county.
So for our listeners who may notknow, tell us a little bit about
the celebration of dreams andwhat it is and what makes it so
special.
Unknown (25:23):
Sure. So this is, interestingly enough, as the
director, I was able to attendone of the Celebrate celebration
of dreams event last year at theHall of Mirrors for the first
time, which was really, reallyincredible opportunity. But it
gives us an opportunity toreally acknowledge and highlight
our, our children that have beenwith us that have graduated from
(25:44):
school, and to give them anopportunity to really have the
focus be on them in what they'vebeen able to overcome in the
child welfare system. And somany of them participate in
their high school graduation,some do not. But this really
gives the organization and thefamilies and the foster parents
and those that have been workingwith the family, throughout
(26:07):
their journey in child welfareto come together. And really
honoring knowledge, theaccomplishment of the children
of graduating from high schooland the focus and the energy.
And the time is really dedicatedto them on that night. And so we
really feel great that we areable to do that annually around
the graduation of our kids incare. And last year was just a
(26:31):
really incredible experience forus to witness the children and
to really see where they want togo what their interests are, and
have them share with their peersthat have been in in in foster
care with them and theirfamilies, their foster families
and caseworkers and permanencystaff really just highlight the
(26:52):
work that they've done along theway and congratulate them for a
job well done.
Bridget Doherty (26:56):
It really is a fantastic event. And it's so
interesting, you know, when yousee the graduate surrounded by
all those people that havehelped them get to that point,
and it really is this groupeffort and celebration is the
neatest and they really they getsome, you know, the
communications team that youhave a JFS does a great job
packaging the whole night toreally make it you know, a
(27:19):
celebration of the kids and inreally focus on almost like an a
paparazzi level of, of takingtheir pictures and making this
the biggest deal ever. So it'sit's fantastic.
Jeff Aluotto (27:30):
The keynote speakers that you guys have been
able to get for this have justbeen fascinating you from
country music stars, to rapmusic stars to other people, big
names in the community, I bringthat not just to say, hey, it's
the names. But the vast majorityof these people again, going
back to the very first thing wetalked about about the number of
(27:50):
individuals who are touched bythe services you guys do, most
of the keynote speakers, andprobably all of them are folks
who have been through this,maybe not here in Hamilton
County, but had been through thechild welfare system. And it's
just great to give the kids onthat night, the exposure to
other folks who have beenthrough the system have been
successful and moved on withtheir life and found a way to,
(28:11):
to move through challenges thatthey face. So just a fantastic,
fantastic event. So as we'refinalizing here, someone is
listening to this podcast, andthey want to know, how do I take
the next step? How do I getinvolved in exploring foster
care? How do we get involvedwith some of the other events or
(28:32):
services that Jeff has has tooffer? What's the best thing for
them to do
Unknown (28:36):
the best option for the public who wants to know more,
learn more, it's got hckids.org, h c kids.org. All of
the information we have on ourchild welfare system, how to get
involved, how to becomeconnected to us, no matter what
level you are now, whetheryou're thinking about it, or
(28:56):
whether you're ready to commit,go to eight, see kids.org.
There's all sorts of informationthere that describe what it
means to be a foster parent inHamilton County. And so I would
certainly ask if you'reinterested to go there for more
information.
Jeff Aluotto (29:15):
Excellent. Well, Alex, Michael, thank you so much
for joining us today. And onceagain, thank you for all that
you guys do every single day onbehalf of Hamilton County and to
help keep kids here in HamiltonCounty safe. And for all that
you do just in the organizationof job and Family Services. I
cannot tell you how much yourdedication and services but
(29:39):
humbling and on behalf of everyresident of Hamilton County,
thank you for all you do forthis community. Thanks for
having Thank you for having us.
And so with that, Bridget on onbehalf of my co host Bridget and
on behalf of my cell phone thathas continued to ring and Buzz
throughout this entire podcast Iapologize for that. Thanks to
you for Listening to EpisodeOne, season three of heart and
(30:01):
hustle in Hamilton County.
Subscribe to us on Applepodcast, Spotify and other
providers. You can find thispodcast on our website at
Hamilton County ohio.gov on thecounty administrator's webpage.
So thanks to all of you forlistening and we will see you
next time. As I believeBridgette, we're going to be out
(30:22):
in the field, electrocutingfish.
Bridget Doherty (30:25):
Okay, so we're going to, we've been trying to
wait for spring to come by and Ididn't understand when you said
we're going to electrocute fish,what that meant. And so I think
I kind of have an idea.
Jeff Aluotto (30:36):
Do you think this was like a hobby or like, well,
Bridget Doherty (30:39):
I you know, I've been with the county for a
little while, and I had neverheard of any county department
doing that.
Jeff Aluotto (30:46):
So we're going to next at our next session or next
podcast, we're going to takepeople inside the world of the
Soil and Water ConservationDistrict, and what electrocuting
fish means in the context ofsampling biodiversity in our
local waterways. And we're nothurting fish. We are literally
just sampling the types of fishthat are out there to test for
(31:08):
stream health. For those folkswho might be listening and think
we're up to nefarious purposeshere.
Bridget Doherty (31:13):
It's an actual shock, though, right? It's a
little shock.
Jeff Aluotto (31:16):
You have never felt in myself, but I understand
it's not enough to actually doany permanent harm. But we are
going to do it. And we're goingto be with our Soil and Water
Conservation Districtprofessionals who are going to
walk us through it and we'regonna have a great time doing it
and we're going to talk abouthow they help protect the
environment. here locally inHamilton County.
Bridget Doherty (31:35):
Out in the wild in the elements. Exactly. All
right. And I do I do the outromusic again. I've kind of messed
that up. Yeah, it's been awhile. So alright, let's take us
out.
Jeff Aluotto (31:47):
Go for it.
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