The Public Children Services Association of Ohio Names Julie Kyer Case Worker of the Year

Julie has been employed with the agency since 1995. Her previous educational background was in teaching where she taught in a classroom setting and then went on to assist children who had medical conditions that could not attend school. In 1996 she decided to move to the Children Services Unit where she began to learn the field of social work. Julie has made great strides and has taken on many roles including that of a ongoing caseworker, adoption specialist, ASAP worker, and current Alternative Response Worker. She rises above and beyond at work, manages a family and completed her Masters of Social Work at Ohio State University in 2005 and is a Licensed Social Worker.

As an ongoing case worker Julie ensured that her children were always heard and recognized their accomplishments and birthdays by using her own time and money to make these days special for the children on her caseload. Julie did this by taking them to lunch, bowling, and makes sure to attend special events that the children were involved in. This included evenings and weekends outside of the agency work week. Julie was able to increase the number of adoption over 200% in the first year of her being in the position of adoption specialist. Julie assisted the agency in having the first National Adoption Day Celebration which is now an annual event. Julie made sure to make each adoption special for the family and was there to celebrate their forever family by making it a party bringing the balloons and cake. The agency then created a new unit called the ASAP unit to assist children who were identified to have intense treatment needs in an out of home setting. Julie utilized her clinical skills as a licensed social worker and worked with children to have them appropriately transitioned back to the community from residential settings. The agency was able to transition 13 children to less restrictive placement settings many of those being back to their family. The agency reduced the average time a child was in a residential setting to less then six months through the assistance of her efforts. The agency then was selected for round 3 of the Alternative Response Pilot. Julie was selected for one of three positions in the agency.

Since Julie has begun her work as an Alternative Response Worker, she has been a champion of the Alternative Response approach. Julie has had incredible success working with her families. In many instances, after Julie closes her cases, her families keep in contact with her. These "clients" keep Julie updated on their family's successes, failures, needs and call just to chat. Julie worked with a particular family for over 6 months on a very challenging medical neglect case. Julie worked very hard with this family on transportation to and from appointments, scheduling and organizing appointments, and connecting the family with multiple service providers. The family is now successfully completing these stressful and overwhelming tasks routinely, thanks to Julie's effectiveness with them. Another family had a negative experience with Children Services and were adamantly against having the agency involved. Julie not only broke down the barriers the family had with the agency, but by the end of the case the family became very compliant and wanted to continue their involvement with the agency, thanks to Julie's dedication and hard work. Julie was also assigned to work with another family who had a long history with Children Services and didn't see the agency in a very kind way. Julie worked diligently with this family in regards to housing and financial concerns. Julie referred the family to our county's Job Store to seek employment. Julie's referral and assistance with transportation to The Job Store helped the family establish an income. Once the family had stable income, Julie assisted the family in securing housing and closed their case. However, months later, the family contacted Julie back, based on their positive experience and asked for help with one of the children's unruly behaviors. Julie created a very detailed service plan with the family. Julie linked this family to numerous services and got other relatives involved to help with this child's behaviors. The family is now stable and together, thanks to Julie's dedication. If Julie isn't out in the field interacting with her families, she is always thinking up ways to better serve the families of Erie County. Julie is always the first to volunteer to assist a co-worker in need and truly is a mentor for other caseworkers.

Julie is an asset to the agency bringing forth a great deal of knowledge in adoption. Her knowledge of her position and social work practice and procedures is exceptional. She seeks out information and resources to best serve the children and families whom she works with. She has a positive attitude, is cooperative, and is more than willing to assist others around her. Julie is always willing to take on a challenge whether big or small and completes it. She has demonstrated exceptional communication skills and has been an essential role in the lives of many children and families. Julies's hard work and dedication shines above and beyond her job duties and is recognized by those in the community and among other professionals. She is enthusiastic and eager to assist children and families who are facing difficulty and are in need. Julie is passionate about her job and is creative in her thinking. She makes sure to get to know her families so that he can provide case management and resources that are individualized for each family aiming them in the direction of success. She advocates for families and children and uses the strengths perspective to work toward desirable outcomes for the children of the community to be safe and provided for. Julie has worked many long nights and weekends to make sure the children on her caseload are safe. Julie is truly deserving of this award as her mission is to help children. She is an asset to this agency and the profession of child welfare.