Children and Family Council
216 3rd Street
Elyria, Ohio 44035
Ph: (440) 284-4464
Fx: (440) 284-4622

Mailing Address: 226 Middle Ave., Elyria, Ohio 44035

Lorain County Children and Families Council, a department of the Lorain County Commissioners, works to advocate for families by establishing and maintaining systems of service that nurture, enrich and encourage collaboration between individuals and organizations to promote the well-being of children and families in Lorain County. This is accomplished through a dedicated Board, Parents, Staff, and County Administration through the support of various initiatives supported by Federal, state and local dollars.

Council provides support and oversight to the following initiatives designed to improve the well-being and lives of children and families in Lorain County:

Lorain County Help Me Grow Program

Ohio’s birth to three system that provides family-centered services for expectant parents, newborns, infants and toddlers and their families. Key components of this service are New Born Home Visits for new mothers conducted by Registered Nurses and on-going home visits by HMG professionals until the child turns age three. Council handles on average 170 referrals monthly for HMG services with over 890 New Born home visits conducted annually. Over 1.6 million state and federal dollars support this program locally.  

Child Abuse Prevention programs

Council, through funding provided by the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, provides funding and program monitoring of child abuse programs and services including strengthening families programs, prenatal education, respite services for at-risk families, and school outreach. Almost $90,000 is distributed annually to support Council’s goal of reducing child maltreatment by 10% over the next three years.

Non-behavioral Health services for children

Council through the partnership with MR/DD supports a lending library for families with special needs children. Funding is provided by the Access to Better Care GFR funding from the State of Ohio.

Service Coordination

Council supports a county-wide service coordination plan for families and is currently developing a new plan that will better meet family needs. This plan calls for a central intake and coordination mechanism in the County so that families who are involved in multiple systems can be better served.
 
Maternal Depression Prevention

Through a partnership with the Lorain County Mental Health Board and a local provider, Far West Center, Council assists in identifying and screening mothers for maternal depression through its HMG service providers. Lorain County is one of 20 counties involved in this State pilot project. Over 500 mothers have been screened for maternal depression since the start of this program in 2006.

Youth drug and alcohol use prevention

Council is part of a collaborative effort in Lorain County to decrease and prevent drug and alcohol use among its youth. It has recently partnered with Communities That Care, which is a community-based group of professionals committed to increasing the protective factors and lowering the risk factors of youth to prevent alcohol and drug use in youth in 6th – 12th grades. There is a commitment to see a reduction by 10% of youth reporting use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco by 2009 using prevention efforts and community outreach and mobilization.