Due to a shortage of qualified families to house them, children in the county separated from their families by the Department of Job and Family Services are increasingly being moved to other Ohio counties to receive foster care.
According to statistics kept by the Department of Job and Family Services, around two thirds of the children removed from their homes for whatever reason are unable to be kept locally, because there are not enough foster families available locally to deal with the demand.
“This is a problem throughout southwest Ohio, and frankly the state of Ohio,” said Clermont Department of Job and Family Services Director Tim McCartney. “The reality is, we have, in Clermont County, about 350 children that are needing out-of-home care, and at any given time, we have between 80-90 active Clermont County foster homes. In a county our size, that’s a fair number of homes. The problem is, it’s not enough. That means, when we take a child into our care while the family is working out the issues that brought the children into our care, much too often those children have to be placed in a foster home that’s out of our county. That’s more difficult for a child. They’re not in the school they’re accustomed to, and they’re not near to their extended family.”
McCartney said that the shortage exacerbates problems the children faced when separated from their families. While removing a child from an abusive or neglectful home may provide for the child’s physical safety, the change can be emotionally damaging for the child.