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Lucas County Children’s Services highlights prevention programs aimed at keeping children with families
Summary
Agency director outlined prevention initiatives — Parent Empowerment Institute, prevention specialists for THC-exposed infants, and Ohio START — that the county says are intended to help children remain safely at home and reduce out-of-home placements.
Chanda Bridal, director of social services at Lucas County Children's Services, told the Toledo City Council Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee on June 18 that many families the agency serves remain intact: in 2024, 44% of children the agency worked with were living in their own homes.
Bridal described three prevention efforts aimed at keeping children safely with family: the Parent Empowerment Institute (PEI), the prevention specialist assigned to infants prenatally exposed to THC, and Ohio START (Sobriety, Treatment and Reducing Trauma), a model that pairs a caseworker with a family peer mentor.
"We have a prevention specialist assigned to all families when a referral is received by our agency due to marijuana positive births," Bridal said. She told the committee the specialist develops a plan of safe care, conducts home visits and provides education on safe sleep and harm-reduction strategies. The specialist currently receives 40 to 50 referrals per month involving infants exposed to THC in utero, Bridal said.
As part of safe-sleep work, Bridal said the agency provides pack-and-play cribs and safe-sleep kits to families who lack safe sleep options; staff also distribute diapers, clothing and other baby supplies through community donations such as Bags of Love 419. The prevention specialist connects families to substance-treatment and mental-health providers, WIC, Jobs and Family Services, and other supports.
Bridal described the county's Ohio START implementation as an early-intervention model that seeks rapid engagement after referral. "We accept families into the program within the first four days of receiving a referral to the agency for substance abuse," she said. Bridal reported that in the first quarter after implementation the county worked with 46 families and 82 children through Ohio START, and that more than half of those children remained in their homes.
Committee members asked about staffing and vacancies. Bridal said the agency had fewer than 20 positions open at the worst staffing point, has run training units and expects an upcoming training cohort to add about 22 new staff upon graduation. The agency provides about 10 weeks of training for new staff.
Council members raised broader concerns about homelessness, housing availability and the intersection of criminal justice and child welfare after a recent news account about a mother arrested while living in a condemned home with children. Bridal said emergency shelter capacity is limited and described ad hoc approaches such as temporary hotel placements while staff seek longer-term solutions.
Why it matters: Children's Services officials emphasized prevention and family support as central to reducing out-of-home placements. Committee members asked for follow-up about specific cases and interagency coordination on crisis response and shelter capacity.
Ending: Bridal said the agency continues outreach in high-need neighborhoods, identified zip code 43605 as an area with a high referral rate, and noted the county's Ohio START supervisor received statewide recognition in 2024 for implementation work.
