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Event showcases need, responders

The level of need among the students and their families in Washington County could be measured by the number of agencies offering help to the school districts trying to respond to it.

More than a dozen teachers and administrators from Marietta City Schools met Monday morning to hear presentations from nine locally-based groups with services ranging from financial assistance to families and help for domestic violence victims to mental health aid and substance abuse treatment, in an event titled Every Child Needs a Hero.

Jessica Dearth, shelter director for EVE, Inc., said the domestic violence nonprofit offers in-class programs and outreach assistance that can be combined with school events such as ice cream socials and family days.

“We have drug and alcohol prevention programs, Too Good for Drugs, and domestic violence programs, Too Good for Violence, curriculums for all grades,” she said. “Domestic violence is a tough subject, people are in fear that they’ll have their children taken away … everyone, especially in this area, is afraid of airing their dirty laundry, they have the attitude of what goes on at home stays at home. Call us if you need help.”

Hilles Hughes, deputy director of the Washington County Behavioral Health Board, said the number of behavioral health providers in the county has grown from one to four – Life and Purpose Services, Hopewell Health, Rigel Recovery Services and Oriana House. A fifth – Integrated Services for Behavioral Health – will soon be established as well.

“This is not work that ever ends,” she said. The board additionally works with housing agencies, mental heath nonprofits, Marietta College’s music therapy program, the Suicide Awareness Alliance and others.

The group also heard presentations from the Washington County Juvenile Court, the Southeast Ohio Mentoring Project, Child Protective Services, Washington-Morgan Community Action, Family and Children First and the Washington County Job and Family Services Department.

Flite Freimann of Job and Family Services offered a barrage of data outlining the depth of poverty in the county. The department oversees state and federally funded public assistance, in the form of Medicaid, food stamps, housing help and cash assistance, in addition to child support, child protective services and workforce development.

Citing Census Bureau figures, he said, “We’ve lost 10 percent of our population in 20 years. If we don’t convince young people to stay here, this area will die.”

In sketching out the scope of the challenge for schools, he noted that 15 percent of the county’s population is disabled – four times the national average – one in five rely on Medicaid for health care, 70 percent of the births in Memorial Hospital are paid for by Medicaid, and one in seven people in the county rely on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) for at least part of their diet.

“This is generational. We have people coming in whose grandparents were on assistance,” he said.

Freimann told the group that part of his agency’s work is to minimize barriers to employment and careers for people 14 to 24 years of age.

“If they’re falling behind academically, we can provide tutors through Building Bridges to Careers. We can help with driver’s licenses and transportation, ACT prep, we can do these things to narrow the achievement gap,” he said. “Two-thirds of the people in Washington County don’t have internet at home. Need a laptop? We can buy it. Your ability to achieve shouldn’t be tied to your parents’ income.”

Lynn Doebrich, the Marietta High School counselor who directed arrangements for the session, said it was organized before the start of school to give teachers, administrators and other school staff an idea of the scope of resources available to help students and their families.

“We’re very lucky to have these agencies, to help reduce the barriers, and we’re working together to do that,” she said. “Heroes can be all sizes and shapes, and you can be one for your students and your staff.”

Some of the resources available for Washington County schools:

• Washington County Juvenile Court.

• The Laundry Project (RSVP and AmeriCorps VISTA).

• Southeast Ohio Youth Mentoring Program.

• Child Protective Services.

• Washington-Morgan Community Action.

• Family & Children First.

• EVE, Inc.

• Ohio Job and Family Services, Washington County.

• Washington County Behavioral Health Board.

Source: Presentation schedule, Every Child Needs a Hero

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