BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Hamilton County Family and Children First Council celebrated its fifth anniversary Friday by announcing that it has helped more than 10,000 children and families a year and brought more than $5 million in grant money to the county.
Patricia Eber, executive director of the council, said two programs - a hot line for troubled families and one that provides health services to low-income families - help 13,100 people a year. The council's other programs - social services in schools, diversion from juvenile court, home services for children at risk of developmental delay, treatment for multi-problem kids and others - have helped nearly 3,700 people or families.
"We do have much to celebrate," said Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer Jr. "We represent the most successful Family and Children First Council in the state of Ohio."
Gov. George Voinovich initiated the councils in 1993 to streamline and coordinate services among agencies that help children. Hamilton County was one of the first seven counties to receive funding to start a council.
Ms. Eber said Hamilton County was chosen because state leaders thought: "If Hamilton County can pull this off, anybody can. We were not exactly well known around the state at the time for being a very collaborative community."
But Hamilton County's council is now widely recognized as the most progressive in the state. Among its accomplishments:
Pulling in $5.4 million in state and federal grants.
Getting several county systems - including mental health, human services and juvenile court - to pool $11 million to treat the 286 children with multiple problems.
Training 1,000 staff members from more than 100 county agencies or organizations to understand other county systems.
Reviewing every child death to see if there are ways of avoiding some.
Producing a uniform form that allows different county systems to share information about the same child.
