Protecting youth who run away from unsafe situations

OHIO YAB Ambassador Todd Brooklyn and Lisa Dickson of ACTION Ohio spoke with Senator Manning yesterday, to thank him for his work on Ohio Senate Bill 288 and to ask for his future support in establishing a less punitive response for youth who run away, and ensure that their records are automatically expunged of this status offense when they enter young adulthood.

We shared with him that:

• The most common reason youth give for running away is seeking to escape a negative home environment.
• Across multiple studies of runaway youth, rates of physical abuse range from 40-60%.
• 34% of teens reported sexual abuse to the National Runaway Safeline as the reason why they left home.
• Youth who go missing for longer periods of time, and who travel farthest away, are most likely to have been abused previously.
• For those who run away to escape abuse, their biggest fear is being returned back to the abusive situation.
• According to the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, agencies are required to provide a counseling session after youth run away, to figure out why – but this doesn’t always happen.
• Too often, youth are returned to abusive situations and they often run away again.

Running away is considered a “status offense,” which is a noncriminal act that is considered a law violation only because of a youth’s status as a minor. In Ohio, status offenses are classified as “unruly children” – and there is no lower age specified for an “unruly child.”  This means that a child as young as 10 years old who runs away to seek to escape an abusive situation could be charged with a status offense for doing so. 

In addition, if the young person runs away again, the court can punish the youth with a term of secure confinement. These instances of secure confinement do nothing to help youth and can, in fact, make it more likely that young person engages in delinquent behavior in the future. From a federal sense, this is outdated policy. When the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was reauthorized in 2018, one of its core requirements was the deinstitutionalization of juveniles for status offenses.

During the call, Senator Manning shared that: 

• He is glad we reached out to him about this issue because it is right up his alley. 
• That he is concerned to hear that state of Ohio has no lower age limit on status offenses like running away.
• In his county youth aren’t charged for status offenses until they are at least 12 years old
• SB 288 has been getting a lot of pushback from law enforcement and prosecutors
• This might work well as a stand-alone bill, one that he would definitely support, to be introduced before the end of break. He believes this could be a good bipartisan bill. 
• He is going to reach out to his friend who is a former juvenile judge, and think about additional state Senators and Representatives that might be a great fit to also support. 
• He suggested that we could reach out to Representative Brian Stewart to see if this could be added as an amendment to his bind-over bill.

Meeting with HUD Senior Leadership regarding FSHO implementation

Link to more photos.

Letter to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge.

Two more years of support will provide a longer runway to achieve success

Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies previously worked incredibly hard to convince the state of Ohio to extend foster care supports to 21. Since its inception in 2017, Bridges has has served 3,195 young adults. 

During the pandemic, extended foster care supports are needed more than ever before. Between Feb. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, annual enrollment increased by 97%.  

The OHIO YAB and ACTION Ohio are currently compiling testimonials to ask our state to extend supports for two more years, until age 23.

2022 Youth Ombudsman testimony

Pictured with
Senator Cecil Thomas and Senator Teresa Fedor
of the Senator Judiciary

Link to more photos.

On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, we were able to provide testimony for House Bill 4, related to the establishment of a Youth Ombudsman. 

Proponent testimony was shared by: 

• Juliana Barton, ACTION Ohio
• Todd Brooklyn, OHIO YAB
• Kim Eckhart, CDF-Ohio

Testimony was also provided by Kristi Burre of the Governor's Children's Initiative, during which she mentioned that: 

• The independent Ombudsman Office is an important first step in listening to the youth voice and using it to inform policy changes and programs. 
  
  
• We are committed to this continued partnership with our youth advocates. 

• In discussions regarding the Ombudsman Office, youth shared they felt disconnected from resources and needed help navigating the children services system. 

• As a result, ODJFS has begun exploring ways to stand up a youth navigator program, which will support youth by answering their questions and providing information about the children services system. This program will complement the Ombudsman Office in a variety of ways.  

FSHO's national implementation

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE IMPLEMENTS FSHO.

The Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act (FSHO) was written by foster youth and alumni from ACTION Ohio, NCHCW, and Congressional Champions led by Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio and Rep. Karen Bass of California.  FSHO offers a platform for youth to build economic self-sufficiency. 

Recommended Characteristics of a Future Youth Ombudsman

On Jan. 4, 2022, the OHIO YAB, ACTION Ohio and Children's Defense Fund~Ohio met with ODJFS to discuss the experience, education and characteristics of the future Youth Ombudsman.

In 19-year-old Todd’s words: “This is an office that should not be taken lightly. This is an office that I wish I had when I was younger.

ACTION Ohio in December 2022 ODJFS First Friday

 

Thanksgiving Together 2021

By Lisa Dickson, Communications Chair, ACTION Ohio

Those of us who have experienced foster care firsthand know that the holidays can be a painful reminder of lost connections. That’s why ACTION Ohio works with our allies each year to host early Thanksgiving dinners for foster care teens (ages 14+) and alumni (ages 18+).

This annual celebration began in 2007 and has continued ever since. As former foster youth ourselves, we want our brothers and sisters of the system to know that they always have a seat at the table for Thanksgiving. Due to ongoing complications related to COVID, we were only able to host one statewide Thanksgiving Together event this year.

The event took place on Sunday, Nov. 14, in Columbus.

• We had over 200 RSVPs.

• My Very Own Blanket donated 200 handmade blankets, as well as pillowcases, teddy bears, and infinity scarves.

• Project PASSION, as facilitated by El'lesun and the Fostering Achievement Network, made clothing items available to participants, with support from the Ohio Children's Alliance.

• Youth received lanyards attached to flash drives that were pre-loaded with resources to support their transition into young adulthood.

• Every youth participant received a gift card in the raffle this year.

One of the most powerful moments during the event was when a young man who is currently homeless gave a speech praising Star House. He invited staff members to stand and be recognized. He then asked participants to raise their hands if they are currently or have ever been homeless. The plethora of hands raised throughout the room underscored the urgency of supports to support foster youth in their transition into young adulthood.