Hi Ellen. Attached is a PDF for Choose Your Partner…
Folks can get more information by calling Children Services at 614-341-6060 or visit www.franklincountyohio.gov/children_services/ where the brochures are downloadable.
Thanks and please let me know if you need anything else!
Have a good day,
cynthia
Cynthia Greenleaf
Communications/Community Outreach Specialist
Community Relations Department/Communications Division
Franklin County Children Services
855 W. Mound St., Columbus, Ohio 43223
p: 614.341.6162
f: 614.278.5988
e: clgreenl@fccs.co.franklin.oh.us
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Choose Your Partner Carefully! Your Child’s Life Depends on It
With child abuse deaths on the rise, Franklin County Children Services, in partnership with the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, is urging single parents to carefully consider who they allow to care for and be with their children. “Who you get involved with has a direct impact on your children,” says Eric Fenner, Franklin County Children Services’ executive director. “When child abuse becomes an issue, one parent’s poor decision-making can quickly lead to tragedy. You can’t be too cautious when it comes to ensuring the safety and well-being of your children.”
Since 2007, eight Franklin County children have died at the hands of a parent’s abusive partner. And while they constitute the majority of cases, women aren’t always the ones making bad decisions—men choose poorly, too. In fact, two of the eight children’s deaths in the past two years were due to a father’s abusive girlfriend.
Choosing a partner carefully is one of the most important decisions a parent can make—your child’s safety is at stake. Children should not be introduced to every dating partner—only introduce partners once a commitment to the relationship and shared values have been established. “Parents often assume that because their partner cares for them, they will also care for their child. This is a potentially deadly mistake. More often the partner is interested only in their relationship with the parent and not the child,” says Yvette McGee Brown, president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Important Questions to Ask…
Before leaving a new boyfriend or girlfriend alone with your child, the following are essential questions parents should ask themselves about their new partner:
Does Your Partner:
· Show anger or impatience when your child cries or has a tantrum?
· Call your child bad names or put him down?
· Think it is funny to scare your child?
· Stop you from bringing your child to his family events?
· Make all of the decisions for you and your child?
· Tell you that you are bad parent or that you should not have your kids?
· Pretend that when he hurts your child that you are to blame or that it’s no big deal?
· Make your child scared by using guns or knives or other weapons?
· Tell you that your child is a nuisance?
· Does he get angry when you spend time with your child?
Don’t let him move in too quickly …Get to know a person before you allow access to your children:
· Know if he has a criminal history: 1) Check Franklin County Municipal Court Clerks Office – www.fcmcclerk.com for warrants and arrests. 2) Check eSORN Sex Offender Registry at www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us
· How does he treat the women in his family?
· How does he treat other children? (Nieces, nephews, friend’s children)
· How has he treated former girlfriends?
Where you can receive help:
· If child care is an issue, contact Action for Children at 614-224-0222 or www.actionforchildren.org
· If you think your child or a child you know is being abused, call Franklin County Children Services at 614-229-7000.
· For more information or assistance, contact the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at 614-722-8200 or visit www.nationwide.childrens.org/ccfa.