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Research to Policy Highlights

Dr. Sonia Minnes, the Schubert Center Research Director, delivered expert testimony about the pandemic's impact on learning and child care to the Ohio General Assembly's Child Care Study Committee.

Last spring, our center, working at the invitation of the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Advisory Board and with an interdisciplinary advisory group, researched and prepared a report and set of policy recommendations for Cuyahoga County leadership consideration. The report, Addressing and Preventing Child Abuse in Cuyahoga County:  Toward a Coordinated Approach, highlighted the need for a more coordinated system to prevent and reduce the impact of child abuse.  It was offered to advance an effort toward a county-wide, coordinated model for addressing child abuse that involves close collaboration among medical practitioners, a multi-disciplinary team of key stakeholders, and a coordinating entity. While County Executive Budish lauded the report and released an RFP in September to implement the coordinated approach, the effort has stalled; our center continues working with the county and community partners to urge its adoption.

Child Lead Poisoning Prevention Policy

• Our center continues to co-lead the Ohio Lead-Free Kids Coalition (OLFKC) and provide all communications (i.e., monthly newsletters and timely alerts), website and social media, and other ongoing support and outreach to ensure state leaders remain informed about the OLFKC's policy priorities and efforts.
• Working closely with the Ohio Healthy Home Network and Ohio Poverty Law Center as co-team leaders, our center organized, drafted what became (HB 587), and organized an Advocacy Day in Columbus on April 6, 2022, to educate Ohio State legislators about the importance of OH HB 587 in preventing childhood lead poisoning, which seeks a historic $500 Million investment of ARPA funding to roll out a robust multi-pronged strategy highlighting the critical need for a strong lead workforce to protect children from lead exposure better. These advocacy efforts are ongoing.
• As a founding member of the Lead Safe Cleveland (LSC) Steering Committee, Policy Director Celeste remains engaged in local lead prevention activities, including urging newly elected Mayor Bibb to prioritize lead poisoning efforts and joining the George Gund Foundation and other LSC Coalition Members in an Amicus Curiae Brief, prepared by the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland supporting the local housing court's authority to seek compliance with the Cleveland lead ordinance by a local landlord (details can be found here:  and).

Youth Justice, Police-Youth Interactions & Youth Crisis Response

1. Cleveland Consent Decree Community Conversations:  "Youth and Policing" - The Schubert Center for Child Studies served as a community partner for this particular session.  Our Policy Director, Gabriella Celeste, served as a panelist on Community Conversations hosted by Fox 8 News on October 13, 2021.  The United Way of Greater Cleveland sponsored the conversation, and the Cleveland Branch of NAACP addressed policing and interaction with children.
2. Youth and Policing:  A look at Cleveland's New Youth Policy - After years of drafting and negotiations, the Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) adopted a first-of-its-kind, Interactions with Youth policy. To help ensure effective implementation, our center met with numerous community leaders and policy-makers to provide details and discuss how the community could partner with the CDP for success.  Part of this included the creation of a toolkit and (with Spanish subtitles) to help raise awareness of the new CDP policy by sparking dialogue, understanding, and action among adults working with children and teens.  The video was created with financial support from the George Gund Foundation, production from Pixel Park and Jamal Collins, and support from local youth, including the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Ohio.  Other partners were Open Doors Academy, Cleveland Public Library, ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Provost Scholars Program, Madvocator Educational and Healthcare Advocacy Training, NAACP Cleveland Branch, Positive Education Program, and Youth Opportunities Unlimited. 
3. Our center also worked with the Ohio Collaborative Community-Policy Advisory Board to urge the state to create a similar police youth standard, along with our partner Strategies for Youth. We were thrilled to have the Ohio Board finally adopt thepolicing standard this year. While it is not mandatory, this standard provides essential guidance to police departments across the state interested in improving youth interactions with age-appropriate, trauma-informed, and equitable policies and practices.
4. Policy Director Celeste continues to serve on the Mental Health Response Advisory Committee as part of the CDP Consent Decree.  Her efforts focus on improving response and support for children and youth in crisis. They have led to additional steps with the ADMHAS Board and local child providers to adopt a model in Cuyahoga County. This is part of the center's activity with other local community partners to develop a non-law enforcement response for children and young people in crisis.
5. "Shaping a Vision for Child Well-Being & Cleveland's Future" was presented as a briefing book to Mayor-Elect Bibb in December 2021 with a focus on Education and Early Education, Health, Juvenile Justice, and Poverty.  Policy Director Celeste authored the Juvenile Justice proposal with priorities for Mayor Bibb's administration.  Mayor Bibb immediately embraced some of the recommendations, including creating a new chief-level position focused on youth and planning for a Children's Cabinet.  The cabinet will tackle the many issues facing children in a cross-sectional, multi-disciplinary way.  Additionally, our Center's brief on youth safety and the justice system included items that made their way to the Mayor's 100-Day Priority list.
6. Policy Director Celeste responded to an Ohio Department of Education (ODE) request for public comment regarding the draft Model Curriculum for instruction on Student Interactions with Police (required by a new Ohio State law).  These comments noted that the draft curriculum "focuses almost exclusively on what children should do during police encounters, without mentioning appropriate expectations of law enforcement, particularly given our increased understanding of how teenagers think, react and process information, especially under stress.  In the , Celeste recommended three fundamental protections and has subsequently been invited to participate in the ODE working group to revise the proposed curriculum.

Policy Engagement and Advisory Groups

Policy Director Celeste serves on several state and local committees, advisory groups, workgroups, etc., including: 

• Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services Advisory Board, County Executive and Council Appointee.
• Mental Health Response Advisory Committee, Policy, and Quality Improvement Sub-Committee Co-Chair, ADMHAS CEO appointee.
• Ohio Public Defender Commission, Governor Appointee
• Ohio Lead-Free Kids Coalition Co-Founder & Co-Chair
• Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, Steering Committee appointee
• Right to Counsel Advisory Committee
• Ohio Multi-System Youth Coalition
• Greater Cleveland Children's Coalition