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Court News Ohio
Judicial
Symposium on Addiction and Child Welfare
By Stephanie Beougher
June 24, 2015
The opiate crisis is impacting Ohio’s families.
“Our abuse, neglect, and dependency docket is dominated by cases in
which the parents have become involved with children’s services
agencies because they have problems, and at the moment predominately
with heroin,” Delaware County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge David
Hejmanowski said.
The rate, according to Judge Hejmanowski, ranges from 80 to 90 percent
of the juvenile and probate cases. While Delaware County has court and
treatment programs to address the issue, the judge said there’s more
that can be learned from what other counties are doing. That’s why he
put together a team of community partners to attend the 2015 Judicial
Symposium on Addiction and Child Welfare on June 23 in Columbus.
“Sitting in a room where we can discuss with other counties and other
communities what they’re doing, what they have found to be successful,
so that we can share with them what has been successful for us, is
incredibly important to us and incredibly helpful to us because it’s
that one-on-one communication about what works,” Judge Hejmanowski said.
Judges from 56 Ohio counties and their community partners attended the
one-day symposium presented by the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Ohio
Department of Job and Family Services, and hosted by the Ohio
Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities.
Attendees heard from state and national leaders addressing the
intersection of addiction, child welfare, and court systems. The event
also highlighted promising practices and programs throughout Ohio where
community partners are coming together to positively impact children
and their parents.
A final request for the participants at the close of the symposium
encouraged the countywide teams to continue the day’s discussion and
implement the action plans that were developed.
“Without a commitment from each of us, the addiction battle will be
lost. This fight will only be as successful as our local leaders on the
frontlines make it,” Ohio Supreme Court Judicial Services Director Milt
Nuzum said.
See the video at Court News Ohio
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