Join us for our Council meeting on Monday, October 6th at 9:30 at the Wayne County Public Library in Wooster— agenda and minutes from past meetings can be found under the Committees tab.

Coordination and Collaboration

For the benefit of Wayne County's Children

Wayne County Family and Children First Council helps coordinate services for families with children prenatal through age 24, as a part of the Ohio Family and Children First initiative.  Click here to download a brochure. 

Since 1986, seven years before Ohio put Family and Children First Councils into Revised Code in 1993, Wayne County has been the catalyst for bringing health and social services organizations together with schools to coordinate and streamline services for families and children.

In 1990, the mission of Wayne County Family and Children First Council was adopted, to "Promote coordination and collaboration among local government, non-profit organizations, businesses and parents for the benefit of Wayne County's Children" 

Ohio has identified six Commitments to Child Well Being by which Councils can measure progress. They are:

Expectant Parents and Newborns Will Thrive

Infants and Toddlers Will Thrive

Children Will Be Ready for School

Children and Youth will Succeed in School

Youth will Choose Healthy Behaviors

Youth will Successfully Transition to Adulthood

In 2002, Wayne County added a seventh commitment:

Families and Individuals Will Live in Safe and Supportive Neighborhoods

Our System of Care

Ohio has a long history of coordinating services and systems to address the needs of children and families. In the mid-eighties under the direction of Governor Celeste, state child serving agencies formed the Interdepartmental Cluster Services For Youth (ICSFY) to address the needs of children with severe and multiple problems (micro-systems of service). Counties were then mandated to form ICSFYs. Much of the focus was on children with very intense needs requiring out-of-home placements. Funding was provided at the state level to assist with specific needs.

In the early nineties, Governor Voinovich envisioned the Family and Children First Councils to expand the work of cluster and become the catalyst for bringing communities together to coordinate and streamline services for families and children needing or seeking governmental assistance (adding a macro level of service).  FCFCs were established in statute along with the blueprint of how the coordination of services and systems should operate at the state and local level (both at the macro and micro levels).  As such, the result of that work positioned FCFCs as Ohio’s statutorily designed Systems of Care body.   (OFCF/DCY)