County lacking suggested number of foster homes

WAPAKONETA — Auglaize County has the least amount of foster homes in the state, according to a recent study. Julie Gossard, director of the Auglaize County Job and Family Services, called that statistic “disconcerting” and wants the county to do better.

Gossard told the county commissioners at a monthly meeting on Tuesday the average number of foster homes for a county the size of Auglaize is 10. To date, Auglaize County has only one foster home.

“I would be happy with five; I would be ecstatic with 10,” Gossard said.

She said her department has about 20 children in paid foster care placements through other agencies.

Commissioner Doug Spencer asked if some of those surrounding placements could be in Auglaize County, an assertion that Gossard confirmed.

She said they often look at “borrowing,” foster homes in neighboring counties, which can save administrative costs in using agencies but it does place children away from “home.”

She enlisted the help of Mindy Reynolds, who recruits as part of a five-county collaborative effort. Gossard also hired Jenny Foster, a recruiter, almost three months ago.

Foster is also a foster parent in a different county. She is working

with JFS staff to encourage other county residents to consider fostering local children.

Marketing efforts include billboards located throughout Auglaize County as well as outreach to news media.

Another obstacle to recruitment is the perception of red tape surrounding the application process. Gossard said she has worked to streamline foster care paperwork, making it available online through a service called Binti. There are also incentives involved; Gossard said for individuals considering fostering a family member, there are “kinship placement” incentives.

Foster, who is nearing the end of her training period, will not only recruit potential foster parents but will also help train those individuals.

The Marsh Foundation, a foster care placement agency, is moving into the Wapakoneta Chamber of Commerce building in March to serve the Auglaize County area. Gossard said they work together and doesn’t view the agency as a competitor.

(AP) — Ohio on Thursday became the first state to challenge the U.S. Census Bureau's decision to push back the release of 2020 census figures so more time can be spent on fixing any inaccuracies in the data.

The lawsuit filed by Ohio asks a federal judge in Dayton to restore a March 31 deadline for the Census Bureau to turn over 2020 census figures used for redrawing congressional and legislative districts, instead of a Sept. 30 deadline announced by the statistical agency earlier this month. The lawsuit claims the delay will undermine Ohio's process of redrawing districts.

Census Bureau officials blamed the need for extra time on operational delays during the 2020 census caused by the pandemic. The dates for releasing the 2020 census data have bounced all over the calendar because of court fights and changes made to adjust to hurdles posed by the pandemic and efforts to comply with federally mandated deadlines.

The 2020 census data include state population counts used for determining the distribution of congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states, as well as redistricting data used for redrawing congressional and legislative districts.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently announced plans to introduce legislation that would push back the deadline for the state population counts from the end of last year to the end of April and the due date for the redistricting data from the statutorily required March 31 date to Sept. 30.

The redistricting data includes counts of population by race, Hispanic origin, voting age and housing occupancy status at geographic levels as small as neighborhoods, and they are used for drawing voting districts for Congress and state legislatures. Unlike past decades when the data were released to states on a flow basis, the 2020 redistricting data will be made available to the states all at once, according to the Census Bureau.

The delay in releasing the redistricting data has sent states scrambling to come up with alternative plans because many will not get the data until after their legal deadlines for drawing new districts, requiring them to either rewrite laws or ask courts to allow them a free pass because of the delay. Candidates may not know yet whether they will live in the district they want to run in by the filing deadline. In some cases, if fights over new maps drag into the new year, primaries may have to be delayed.

Ohio law requires a newly formed commission to finalize state legislative districts by Sept. 1 and to hold three public meetings before doing so. Ohio's General Assembly is required adopt a map for congressional districts by Sept. 30.

Ohio won't be able to use the 2020 census data to redraw districts if the figures aren't released until the end of September. That will force the state to use alternative figures, setting off a fight over which data to use and “fanning partisan flames when one data source is eventually chosen, no matter how precise and reliable," the lawsuit said.

“The many people who voted for redistricting reform deserve better than to have their efforts thwarted by a federal government that refuses to do its job," the lawsuit said. “No doubt, the pandemic has greatly complicated the Census Bureau’s task. But the pandemic has complicated the jobs of firefighters, police officers, and judges too.

All those public servants found ways to continue fulfilling their obligations to the public, recognizing that government officials may not shelter in place while their duties go unfulfilled."

The Census Bureau said in a statement that it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Meanwhile, a coalition of municipalities and civil rights groups that had sued the Census Bureau over concerns about data quality and deadlines said in a court filing Wednesday that they were working toward a potential agreement to their lawsuit with the statistical agency.

A hearing on the lawsuit in federal court in San Jose, California, had been scheduled for Friday, but both sides in a court filing asked for a delay until next month to continue “good-faith discussions concerning the potential resolution of this case."