Older Adults
Research

Family and Youth in Crisis, How Ohio's Identifying and Funding the Population

Community Solutions Team
Transforming data into progress
Additional Contributors
No items found.
June 3, 2018
Read time:
Download Fact Sheets
Register now
Share this resource
Subscribe to our Newsletter
By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download this as a PDF

Family and Youth in Crisis, How Ohio's Identifying and Funding the Population

Gayle Channing-Tenenbaum

Consultant, Children’s Medicaid Policy

Ohio’s 2018-2019 biennial budget included an appropriation of $5 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding per year for children with complex care needs whose parents or legal guardians are at risk of relinquishing custody solely to obtain access to needed services. Efforts to secure this “family and youth in crisis” funding were led by Senator Randy Gardner and Representative Sarah LaTourette, who also co-chaired the Joint Legislative Committee on Multi-System Youth (MSY) in 2016. The budget language directed the Ohio Family and Children First (OFCF) Cabinet to work with stakeholders to determine how the funds would be used.In the months since the budget appropriation passed, stakeholders worked with OFCF on a guidance document to define the population of focus and funding guidelines and requirements. An application and tips to access the funding was recently released by OFCF to county Family and Children First Councils (FCFCs), and reimbursement can now be provided for services and supports delivered on or after April 12, 2018. CHILD AND FAMILY ELIGIBILITYThe target population for services and supports includes children who are designated as Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) and who are at risk of being removed from the home in order to access needed services. To access funds for services, children must live in families at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and have identified needs across multiple systems. [Note: stakeholders are continuing to work on eligibility limits for family income; please see final section of blog for more information.] The youth/family must be enrolled in the county Family and Children First Service Coordination (FCFC) Process and must be at risk for custody relinquishment as demonstrated by any of the following:

  • History of hospitalizations, including stabilization visits
  • Previous out-of-home placements, including but not limited to residential treatment
  • Placement in Kinship Care (including voluntary/temporary Kinship Care where custody is not terminated and Kinship Navigator supports**)
  • Child Welfare Alternative/Differential Response; Absence Intervention Teams or Multidisciplinary Truancy Teams as required by HB 410
  • Developmental Disability and/or Intellectual Disabilities services for youth at risk of not being able to be maintained in their own home
  • Previous or current involvement with juvenile court
To access funds for services, children must live in families at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and have identified needs across multiple systems.

FCFC SERVICE COORDINATION REQUIREMENTS As mentioned above, the youth/family must be enrolled in the FCFC process to be eligible for reimbursement for services. FCFCs must encourage and facilitate the full participation of families in all service coordination plan meetings. These individualized meetings should include appropriate agency/school staff and family identified support persons. Meetings should be held before non-emergency, out-of-home placements and within 10 days of emergency placements. FCFCs must use a standardized process to assess the needs and strengths of the family, and develop an Individualized Family Service Coordination Plan – including a crisis response plan for preventing known short-term crisis situations - jointly with each family.REIMBURSEABLE SERVICESFCFCs can apply for retrospective reimbursement for the following services provided to eligible youth:

  • Non-clinical in-home parent/child coaching
  • Non-clinical parent support groups
  • Parent/Peer/Youth Mentoring
  • In-Home and Out-of-Home Respite Care
  • Transportation (e.g., cab/taxi fares)
  • Structured activities to improve and strengthen the provision of social/emotional supports so that the youth can be maintained in the home   while receiving services
  • Food, clothing, shelter, utilities, and/or household expenses assistance for no longer than 4 months
  • Family and work related childcare for no more than two (2) consecutive months and 3 months total (with 30 days between each occurrence)
  • The provision of Service Coordination/Wraparound

Funds can only be used for services provided while the child remains in the custody of the family, and cannot be used for services while the child is in an out-of-home placement. Further, reimbursement is not available for clinical, medical or behavioral health services, including residential treatment per diem costs.OhioMHAS FUNDS FOR FCFCs IN RESOURCE-SCARCE COMMUNITIESWhile some larger, well-funded communities will be able to pay for services for children and families, and later obtain reimbursement for these services through the Crisis fund, many resource-scarce communities will not have sufficient funds on hand to pay for services and wait for reimbursement at a later date. To address this issue, Tracy Plouck, Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), established approximately $250,000 to be used to find eligible services for eligible individuals identified by local FCFCs in communities that do not have local funding. To use these funds, the child accessing services must have an emotional disorder and require services from the behavioral health system. Since this funding cannot be made available to children without behavioral health challenges, stakeholders are hopeful that other Ohio Agencies will follow OhioMHAS’s lead to establish similar funding for children who need other types of services.CHALLENGES WITH EXISTING FUNDING LIMITATIONS Income Threshold: Senator Gardner and Representative LaTourette created the crisis funding appropriation to address the unmet and uninsured needs of multi-system youth who are in crisis and in danger of parental custody being relinquished in order to access appropriate services, regardless of their level of family income. The costs to families raising these highly challenged youth are often extreme, and can be devastating to families with incomes well above poverty. And yet, we know that mental illness, developmental disabilities, trauma and other overwhelming conditions do not happen exclusively to youth in low income families. Unfortunately, the current parameters on the funding limit its use to families earning less than 200% FPL, rather than to low and middle income families. Stakeholders may need to seek funding other than TANF to serve families earning more than 200% FPL. That’s because U. S. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady has introduced Legislation to reauthorize TANF that would requires states to spend all federal and state TANF funds on families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line. Work on this issue will almost certainly continue into the next year with Senator Gardner, Representative LaTourette and the newly elected administration to address this within the next biennial budget.

Since this funding cannot be made available to children without behavioral health challenges, stakeholders are hopeful that other Ohio Agencies will follow OhioMHAS’s lead to establish similar funding for children who need other types of services.

Retrospective Funding Mechanism: The funding model takes a retrospective approach, rather than a prospective approach to provide both assistance and funding to local communities who have families in need. This type of mechanism will always lag behind service and assistance needs, so stakeholders are hopeful that this funding mechanism can be made prospective next year.Additional information about the Family and Youth in Crisis Funding can be found on the OFCF website’s biennial budget page.

Download Fact Sheets

Geauga County

Download

Lake County

Download

Cuyahoga County

Download

Thompson

Download

South Russell

Download

Russell

Download

Parkman

Download

Newbury

Download

Munson

Download

Montville

Download

Middlefield Township

Download

Middlefield Village

Download

Huntsburg

Download

Hambden

Download

Claridon

Download

Chester

Download

Chardon Township

Download

Chardon City

Download

Burton

Download

Bainbridge

Download

Auburn

Download

Willowick

Download

Willoughby Hills

Download

Willoughby

Download

Wickliffe

Download

Waite Hill

Download

Timberlake

Download

Painesville City

Download

Mentor-on-the-Lake

Download

Mentor

Download

Madison

Download

Lakeline

Download

Kirtland Hills

Download

Kirtland

Download

Eastlake

Download

Concord

Download

Highland Heights 2018

Download

Garfield Heights 2018

Download

Fairview Park 2018

Download

Euclid 2018

Download

East Cleveland 2018

Download

Cleveland 2018

Download

Cleveland Heights 2018

Download

Cities in Cuyahoga County Combined 2018

Download

Brooklyn 2018

Download

Brook Park 2018

Download

Broadview Heights 2018

Download

Brecksville 2018

Download

Berea 2018

Download

Bedford 2018

Download

Bedford Heights 2018

Download

Beachwood 2018

Download

Bay Village 2018

Download

Westlake 2018

Download

Warrensville Heights 2018

Download

University Heights 2018

Download

Strongsville 2018

Download

South Euclid 2018

Download

Solon 2018

Download

Shaker Heights 2018

Download

Seven Hills 2018

Download

Rocky River 2018

Download

Richmond Heights 2018

Download

Pepper Pike 2018

Download

Parma 2018

Download

Parma Heights 2018

Download

Olmsted Falls 2018

Download

North Royalton 2018

Download

North Olmsted 2018

Download

Middleburg Heights 2018

Download

Mayfield Heights 2018

Download

Maple Heights 2018

Download

Lyndhurst 2018

Download

Lakewood 2018

Download

Independence 2018

Download

Woodmere

Download

Westlake

Download

Warrensville Heights

Download

Walton Hills

Download

Valley View

Download

University Heights

Download

Strongsville

Download

South Euclid

Download

Shaker Heights

Download

Seven Hills

Download

Rocky River

Download

Richmond Heights

Download

Pepper Pike

Download

Parma Heights

Download

Orange

Download

Olmsted Falls

Download

Olmsted

Download

Oakwood

Download

North Royalton

Download

North Randall

Download
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download report

Subscribe to our newsletter

5 Things you need to know arrives on Mondays with the latest articles, events, and advocacy developments in Ohio

Explore the fact sheets

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.

No Related Fact Sheets

Explore Topics

Browse articles, research, and testimony.

Poverty & Safety Net
Research

Mapping the Money: Funding Ohio’s Health and Human Services

Dylan Armstrong
October 28, 2024
Poverty & Safety Net
Research

Social Security at age 90

Community Solutions Team
September 16, 2024
Behavioral Health
Research

Status of Girls

Suzanna Thiese
May 31, 2024
Poverty & Safety Net
Research

SNAP Employment and Training Program: Best practices for Ohio

Rachel Cahill
May 6, 2024
Maternal & Infant Health
Research

How community health workers navigate the infant and maternal health space in Ohio

Natasha Takyi-Micah
December 18, 2023