BELMONT – OhioRISE has built powerful ties in Belmont County to assist children who need some help in their journey to adulthood. Union Local Elementary’s Family Fun Night March 12 proved an ideal opportunity to introduce the program to more families and update contacts among service providers.
Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC) OhioRISE is a Medicaid managed care program for children and youth with complex behavioral health and multisystem needs in Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Stark and Tuscarawas Counties and operated by the Jefferson County Educational Service Center. OhioRISE was formed to coordinate resources and put families in touch with what is available.
Care coordinator Vicky Filtz was OhioRISE’s contact on the ground. She described the program’s productive relationship with Union Local’s school social worker Anna Bodkin, who often communicates with OhioRISE for help keeping students and families in touch with support.
“She always reaches out so we can brainstorm and come up with the best solutions for a family.”
For her part, Bodkin was happy to have OhioRISE there, adding the program is always welcome.
“I continue to love the OhioRISE program and the support they give our students and families and also linking us to resources we might not know about. They’re a great partner at Union Local Elementary.”
Bodkin added care coordinators specialize in “outside the box” thinking and can often find unexpected options and resources.
“If we come to a halt like we’re coming to a brick wall and we don’t know what else we’re going to do, we come to them and they help our families.”
Bodkin observed the program makes an impression once a family experiences OhioRISE service. She recalled one family that had moved to a different area and had begun using OhioRISE. The family wanted to be sure the program was available when they moved back to Union Local.
“They had OhioRISE there and the family was coming back, and they were very concerned that they weren’t going to be able to have those services, so OhioRISE was quick to respond,” she said. They were assured the program was active in Belmont County and there to assist.
Filtz noted a strength of OhioRISE is the care coordinators’ close familiarity with their areas of service.
“We’ve grown a lot of partnerships down in Belmont County. It’s nice to have connections in the school communities because they see a lot of firsthand struggles when it comes to youth, and they’re able to reach out and connect with them,” Filtz said.
“The biggest thing is having our care coordinators be those local experts on what the resources are and what the community services and supports looks like in each county, so that when a family is working with them and the need, whether it be for counseling services or respite services, whatever the need looks like for that individual, our care coordinators are armed with that information and know who to get them connected to quickly and efficiently.”
Elementary Principals Dana Kendziorski and Ron Bober said about 300-400 students and their families often attend family fun nights and learn about the variety of services available. Kendziorski and Bober said OhioRISE is a valued participant.
“Our student services representative does refer some of our families to OhioRISE and they help assist some of our families here,” Kendziorski said. “We appreciate them coming and working with our families and supporting us. That’s been a great program.”
Bober added Bodkin and her tight relationship with OhioRISE has been a ready source of services to benefit their students.
Lori Wells, early intervention supervisor for the Belmont County Board of Developmental Disabilities, appreciates OhioRISE’s help. Care coordinators join in multi-agency team meetings and follow the “wraparound” philosophy of coordinating services to answer a child’s specific needs.
“OhioRISE are in some of the homes and working with some of the children and some of the siblings of the children that we serve, and just collaborating together to be able to do the best for the family.”
She added their services dovetail.
“We go in as soon as we get the referral, so we can be in there from birth to three and we can refer out to OhioRISE and OhioRISE can refer back to us. We work on developmental needs, and OhioRISE, a lot of times we see that they’re working to get families some of those things that they’re missing. Some of those behavioral things,” she said. “They work to get some of the families some of those additional services that we might not have access to.”
Kasey Edwards, dental services manager with Ohio Hills Health Centers in Bellaire, said OhioRISE excels in finding resources.
“We see them and our experience has been well as far as getting them in and taking care of it.”
Attendees included OhioRISE care coordinator Erica Clark, on the lookout for more contacts that could provide support for the families she works with in Belmont County.
“You never know where you’re going to find resources, so coming out to events like this helps reach out to other partnerships.”
Clark said it was vital for care coordinators to have those local connections and be aware of the area’s concerns and what services are out there.
“My son goes to school at Union Local so I’m familiar with a lot of the teachers and some of the partners that Union Local uses a lot, so just seeing everybody here with the resources is amazing.”
She added some common needs are behavioral therapies and resources for food, clothing and housing
“OhioRISE with care coordinators is always a good bet. We can get you connected with other outside resources,” she said. “Anything they might need, we can usually find a connection.”
To learn more about OhioRISE, call 740-792-4011, email ohiorise.info@jcesc.org or visit OhioRISE online at https://www.jcesc.k12.oh.us/CareManagementEntity.aspx.
