Public Children Services Association of Ohio

Thank you to our platinum sponsor of the 2026 Ohio START Summit, Ohio Peer Recovery Organizations!

OhioPRO also hosts their own summit each year for Ohio peer supporters and recovery leaders. Their 2026 Peer Recovery Summit will be held July 8-9 and is open for registration.

Join us in celebrating Mike Kenney’s 5-year anniversary with PCSAO! If you know Mike, you know he hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped.

Since joining in 2021, he’s co-designed Ohio’s first shared practice model (PACT), created a Safety Culture Learning Community, participated on the OhioRISE Working Board as an advocate for PCSAs, and co-authored an article for the Family Justice Journal. Mike has also pushed forward prevention efforts, elevated lived experience in our work, and launched the 3,000 Good Things podcast to highlight positive stories in children services.

Thank you, Mike, for your passion, leadership, and commitment to strengthening children services across Ohio!

Thank you to Senator Wilkin for taking time today to meet with Jody Walker (South Central JFS), Jeremy Ratcliff (Highland County Department of Job and Family Services), Chip Spinning and Dan Shook (Franklin County Children Services) along with PCSAO and the County Commissioners Association of Ohio to discuss the escalating costs for placements and other key issues impacting children services.

Thank you to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth for making the 8th annual Ohio START Summit possible! DCY Director Wente joined us to kick of the summit with opening remarks, and the DCY team staffed a table to connect with attendees throughout the event.

During the 2026 Ohio START Summit, we were pleased to recognize Stefanie Robinson as our 2026 Ohio START Community Partner of the Year!

In 2018, Stefanie organized and founded Medina County’s first Recovery Community Organization, Hope Recovery Community. As the Executive Director of Hope Recovery Community, she has not simply led an organization—she has built a movement grounded in dignity, opportunity, and belonging for individuals in recovery. She has led community efforts, such as the Ride 4 Recovery, and been a true advocate for the Ohio START model. You may also recognize Stefanie as the keynote speaker at the 2024 Ohio START Summit, or from the many workshops she has presented at this event and others over the years. Medina County’s recovery community is stronger, more connected, and more hopeful because of her dedication.

Photos from the 2026 Ohio START Annual Summit are here! Here's a preview of all the great moments we were able to capture.

We are grateful to everyone who made this such a memorable event. Special thanks to our presenters and to our keynote speakers Joseph Green from LMSvoice and Kayla Zawislak from the Addiction Policy Forum for inspiring START teams to use their voices and continue this important work.

Check out the photo gallery on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/k9wdod0kpzell2ckvm0xd/ACFXEO9yV_8sR5mr33F-r8k?rlkey=w06v1xu4g36dc0mp3q6zanotc&st=7swcsodv&dl=0

PCSAO and Ohio START are excited to announce a new partnership with Hope Recovery Community to provide technical assistance to local Ohio START teams on the role of peers within the START model.

Hope Recovery Community selected Laurel Ridenour to serve as the Family Peer Mentor Technical Assistance Consultant. Laurel is a Peer Recovery Supporter and proudly served as the Family Peer Mentor with the Medina County Ohio START Team for the past five years.

We are thrilled to welcome Laurel to the PCSAO START team!

We are excited to host our 2026 Ohio START Annual Summit next week, May 4-5! We are expecting a record number of attendees, including some from START teams outside the state.

Our sponsors make it possible for us to host such a great event. Thank you to our partner: the Ohio Department of Children and Youth; our platinum sponsor: Ohio Peer Recovery Organizations; our gold sponsors: Necco Center and Cadence Care Network; our silver sponsors: Sandusky Artisans, OhioKAN, Foundations for Living, SMART Recovery USA, and Prevention Action Alliance; and our bronze sponsors.

Our annual two-day orientation for new executive leaders last week featured presentations and panel discussions on leadership, communications, fiscal management, public policy advocacy, and more. Thank you to all our amazing panelists and to the new agency leaders who joined!

PCSAO was proud to attend the Greene County Children Services Blue Ribbon Breakfast which included remarks from JFS Director Beth Rubin, State Sen. Kyle Koehler, keynote speaker Lamar King.