Training, Consultation, and Technical Assistance

The following services are available through PCSAO:

Providing Orientation for New Executives of County PCSAs - conducting annual orientation sessions for new 
executives with topic matter including county government; financial management; legislative advocacy; creating 
public value; executive-board relationship; media relations; personnel administration and collective bargaining; and 
levy campaign development and implementation.

Facilitating the Development of County Strategic Plans - providing trained facilitators to assist counties to 
conduct community environmental scans; develop PCSA strategic; and supporting the implementation of those strategic plans through regular progress checks and necessary training, technical assistance, and 
consultation in a variety of areas.  Implementation of the Standards for Effective Practice; Child Protection 
Oversight and Evaluation (CPOE) indicators; and Family to Family Objectives; achievement of Council on
Accreditation status; support the transformation of the county's practice in a manner which best fits each 
individual county's needs.

Expanding the Family to Family Initiative in Ohio - The Annie E. Casey Foundation has worked with PCSAO to coordinate the expansion of Family Centered, Neighborhood Based practice. This approach was originally piloted in Cuyahoga (Cleveland) and Hamilton (Cincinnati) counties. PCSAO has worked with dozens of counties across Ohio to integrate this approach to practice and has developed a pleathorn of materials to support managers, supervisors and workers in their effort to transform their local system. 

Development of the Executive Leadership Institute - working with Ohio University  to develop the curriculum 
necessary to advance the knowledge and skills of human services executives in areas of leadership; issue 
development, implementation, and evaluation; marketing; and media relations.

Levy Campaign Development and Implementation - working with individual counties to assess the community 
environment; analyze past elections; develop a campaign strategy and message; implement the campaign; and evaluate its results.

Rising Up and Moving On and Mentoring Program Development - with the assistance of the Ohio Attorney 
General's office (formerly Betty D. Montgomery, now Jim Petro), PCSAO has worked with many counties to develop 
the Rising Up Moving On recognitions, as well as Birth, Kin, Foster and Adoptive Families of the Year Awards.

On-site consultation in a variety of areas such as financial management; intergovernmental relations; media relations; service coordination; risk assessment; Family to Family integration; and many other areas.

Council on Accreditation (COA) - PCSAO has developed tools to assist Ohio PCSA's as they go through the COA accreditation process. PCSAO is assisting the ODJFS achieve its goal of all PCSAO's in Ohio becoming accredited. This effort of continuous quality improvement will have tremendous impact on the child welfare system in Ohio.

University Partnership - The University Partnership is a unique partnership among the ODJFS, the School of Social Work in certain universities, IHS (Institute of Human Services), PCSAO, and PCSA's. Student in BSW programs complete special Child Welfare courses, complete a field placement in a PCSA, and receive tuition reimbursement for accepting a casework position in a PCSA in Ohio upon graduation. Those completing the program do not need to take the required CORE training that all other new child welfare workers must complete the first year of employment.

Ohio Child Welfare Training Program - The Ohio Child Welfare Training Program is Ohio's competency-based in-service training system for staff and managers in the 88 county Public Children Services Agencies (PCSAs). The OCWTP is a state/county, public/private collaboration among the ODJFS, PCSAO, 8 Regional Training Centers (RTCs), The Institute for Human Services (IHS), and Private Child Placing Agencies. The OCWTP provides an array of training activities to promote mastery of the complex knowledge and skills needed to assure protection and permanence for Ohio's abused and neglected children.