email feedback to bghay@aldenleadership.com

Richland

Continued financial support of the ILF, for training, technology, etc., and support of the CLA model.

Medina

*Continued funding
*Additional training regarding various elements as we continue to advance in these areas
*Transfer of learning support on site; could include consultation and actual samples of concurrent planning that has really worked in various counties
*More focus on outcome measures; how does one really measure success of a case beyond hard data (can track decrease in placement days, but how to measure quality or safety when a case leaves the system)
*Work more aggresively with the judicial system in terms of philosophy and endorsement of CLA (conduct CLA For Beginners for courts or attorneys who commonly practice in Juvinile Court)

Hamilton

     1.  Administrative support---to County Administrators to continue to initiate this methodology
     2.  Financial Support
               Training---additional
               Software  (ie.:  genogram/ecomap program)
               Kinship (financial/medical/supportive programs)
               Staff/Training/implementation support and dollars for Family Group    
                     Decision making
               Assessment/Monitoring of counties progress  (recidivism)

Guernsey

Continued funding is integral for CLA to continue.  Not only are resources necessary given the somewhat revolutinary approaches being tested, but the Implementation Leadership Forum (ILF) has been an irreplacable part of Guernsey County’s success.  The opportunity for counties to share ideas, express struggles, and fine tune the intiative, is not only out of the ordinary, but one of the driving forces behing Guernsey County’s continued involvement.  A facilitator as skilled as the person used for the past 1 ˝ years is integral and has made the experience through the ILF like no other. It is imperative that the state support the software designed to help caseworkers and supervisors in their pursuit of CLA implementation.  Expressed interest, knowledge, and advocacy by ODHS would be greatly appreciated.

Portage

We need the State to recognize the value of CLA to case practice and as one of the only viable solutions to many problems in child welfare today, including financial and image problems. With that said support from them is needed in many areas, but a continuation of some monetary support certainly won't "put them out" and they will get a real bang for their buck in the long run!

Muskingum

I) Support in regards to people/professional power relating to the regu1arly scheduled ILF meetings.

2) Monetary support for training/program development activities. 3) Personnel at the state level to be designated as CLA program champions.

Greene

Continued support for system reform.  The state needs to recognize that these eight counties are trying to pilot a truly family centered, strengths based model that will move child welfare practice forward.  Support can be recognized in many ways, ie. technical assistance, philosophical support for our efforts, training, funding, etc.

Athens

ACCS jointed the CLA project in October 1999.  Our agency has not received any funds from ODHS to assist us in this effort but we were instead committed to utilizing this process in our agency.  We have benefitted greatly from the monthly meetings with implementing counties.  It has been critical to the project to have a designated facilitator to champion this effort, to keep the group focused and on task and develop the framework which we discussed.  It is critical to this project to has funds available to maintain the facilitator.

Funds are also necessary to cover expenses related to data collection and analysis.  The agencies need access to the appropriate equipment to collect data, including the necessary software programs.  We are fortunate to have a quality assurance unit within our agency who can collect and analysis data. 

There are additional training needs for staff which could be provided by ODHS or funds allocated for that purpose.  We believe that if we are able to utilize work load management, we will determine that caseloads will need to be reduced to meet the identified service needs of families.  Additional funds from ODHS for staff to effectively manage caseloads would certainly be appreciated.

Astabula

Funding is always the first answer that comes to mind with this question. In this case, funding is important to help us continue to refine the way we utilize cla to be of the utmost help to families we serve.  However, state support of this initiative is even more important to me.  Cla is one of the initiatives of the protect ohio project undertaken by 7 of the 14 counties in this wavier.  As we initiated this project we knew it would take at least 5 years to even begin to see some measureable outcomes; however we are already starting to measure success with some of the components of the cla process and it appears to me that we are doing exactly what the "feds" wanted us to do, the finding of new ways to keep children safe and in their own home.   

In 1992, my agency took a great step into the future by becoming in the risk assessment development ,  i have seen first- hand the benefits of a county/state collaboration and the need for a long term plan for a major change to a state systemin the use of better tools to to deliver services.  Because i have this experience to draw from, i take a certain amount of comfort in knowing the state is there to take a leadership role in helping the counties fully utilize cla.  Since the implementation of risk assessment, i have seen the use of cla as a further refinement of tools to improve service delivery.  Counties need continuous training in the concept of cla, software needs to be developed to improve genogram and ecomap formats and counties need to be aware of changes to the field;state support can enhance these areas.