About Us

Thia Watkins doesn’t see what she did as that big of a deal. She had a baby at 15 and went into foster care 1 1/2 hours away from Cincinnati with her newborn daughter, Leiyah. She stayed in school, raised …

When Leah and Michael Sharpshair got married, she thought maybe they’d have three or four children. They had five. Now, plus two. The Liberty Township family finalized their adoption of Brayden, 11 months, today. He follows his brother Colton, who …

Mollie Ehinger had a great job as a general manager at a restaurant where she had been for 14 years. She never thought, if the time came, that finding a new job would be difficult. “Boy, was I wrong,” she …

We had an incredible week last week when people throughout our community wore blue as a social statement about the troubling problem of child abuse. Wednesday was “Wear Blue. Child Abuse is Preventable” day in Hamilton County and throughout the …

Our final 2013 child welfare numbers recently arrived on my desk – hot off the presses. Unfortunately, they tell a sad tale. More than 63,000 calls to our 241-KIDS child abuse reporting hotline. Nearly 6,000 new investigations into child abuse …

Meet Andwele, the young man we’ve been talking with lately about‪ #‎agingout‬ of ‪#‎fostercare‬. His caseworkers – one of them from Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – are working really hard to help him find the home he wants before he …

In matching striped dresses and pink hair bows, Jazzy and Ruby sat on their parents’ laps in court this morning as a magistrate made it official – the girls will stay with the only family they’ve ever known. Derrell and …

I ran some numbers for a project I am working on with County Commissioner Hartmann and was pleased to discover the payoff of our focus on helping young people prepare for jobs and become employed. This is one of the …

HCJFS Director Moira Weir, a 20-year veteran of children’s services, worries most about one thing – kids aging out of foster care with no safety net. So she’s really looking forward to what comes from a new project launched between …

As the primary agency to distribute public assistance in Hamilton County, one of the most common questions we receive is how to apply for unemployment. Although there were local unemployment offices at one time, Ohio workers now apply for unemployment …