JUVENILE COURT ANNOUNCES FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER, CASA/GAL EXPANSION

Summit County Council has approved legislation that will allow the Summit County Juvenile Court to create a Family Resource Center with the capacity to serve 325 youth and their families and expand the Guardian Ad Litem program to provide case management services and advocacy to an additional 300 youth. The Court will receive approximately $950,000 in grant funding from the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services’ Title XX/TANF/PRC federal dollars to operate the programs.

According to Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio, the two programs provide the Court an opportunity to serve hundreds of at-risk children and their families with meaningful support and intensive follow-up services that can make positive and long-lasting changes throughout their lives.

“This is very exciting for us and for Job and Family Services,” Judge Teodosio said. “There is great need in Summit County for a central point of contact where youth and their families can receive all the information for services available to them that can really make an impact to their quality of life. We’ll not only connect families to such services, but follow up to ensure that these families are getting the most out of them.”

The Family Resource Center will provide services designed to assist at-need youth and strengthen the family unit. The Center can provide case management services to pregnant/parenting teens, youth who are truant or potential drop-outs, youth engaged in domestic violence disputes and youth re-entering the community from residential treatment or detention facilities. The CASA/GAL expansion will create a new Child Advocacy Team to serve the needs of another 300 children in the custody of the Children Services Board.

State law requires the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem in all cases in which child abuse or neglect is alleged. According to Judge Teodosio, their role in such cases is to ensure that the needs and the best interests of the child are represented in Court proceedings.

Both the Family Resource Center and the expanded Guardian Ad Litem services will be accessed on the 2^nd floor of the William P. Kannel Juvenile Justice Center, 650 Dan St., Akron OH 44310.