Funding Agency: Cuyahoga County, Ohio Family and Children First
As the policy and planning entity for , the convenes partners to prepare children and youth for healthy, stable adulthood, by supporting programming and planning that increases the self-sufficiency and decision-making abilities of families, prevents children from becoming deeply involved in public systems, and better connects the services a child really needs. The ultimate goal of the FCFC is to create a community comprised of strong, stable families, with each being able to provide for the basic needs, health, and education of its family members.
The Begun Center provides comprehensive evaluation services for multiple youth-serving programs administered by the Family and Children First Council. These services include data collection quality assurance training, ongoing data quality control analysis and reporting, data management and outcomes analysis, and program and outcome level reports.
Successful completion of these activities will provide FCFC with ongoing analytical support for data-driven decision-making, provide FCFC the ability to track, monitor and report program outcomes at the youth, program and county levels, and support FCFC’s ability to report and benchmark CountyStat data.
The History of the FCFC
Established in 1993, Ohio Family and Children First (OFCF) is defined as the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet with the purpose of streamlining and coordinating government services for children and families. The OFCF Cabinet Council is comprised of the following Ohio Departments: Aging, Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, Developmental Disabilities, Education, Health, Job and Family Services, Mental Health, Rehabilitation and Correction, Youth Services; the Rehabilitation Services Commission, and the Office of Budget and Management. Locally, the county commissioners establish the 88 county Family and Children First Councils (FCFC).
Additional Resources Relating to the Family and Children First Council
These are some frequently asked questions involving domestic violence presented by the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court, whose mission it is to help families restructure their lives by reaching compassionate and just resolutions to parenting and property disputes.
The Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center’s “Breaking the Cycle Project”
The Begun Center is the evaluator for Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center’s (DVCAC) “Breaking the Cycle Project.” funded by the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund. This project has two components: 1. a campaign to raise public awareness of domestic violence issues and 2. an educational curriculum presented in three sessions to (primarily) mothers who are or have been in abusive relationships on the impact that domestic violence has on children’s behavior.
FrontLine Service reaches out to children and families whose lives have been shattered by violence, working closely with those who have experienced or witnessed sexual and/or physical abuse, kidnapping, suicide, homicide or rape. We provide the intensive clinical services needed to help overcome the trauma and to break the cycle of violence in homes and communities across Cuyahoga County.