Public gets a look at new child visitation center

CELINA - A new visitation center will offer a more inviting environment for parents and children to bond during court-mandated visitations, Mercer County Job and Family Services officials say.

County commissioners last year approved director Angela Nickell's request to convert part of a basement storage room in the Mercer County Central Services Building. The space will host visits between parents and children who are under foster care.

"Ohio law requires that we do everything in our power to reunify a family and to make every effort," she said.

She believes the center will help the agency meet that goal.

After months of work, the center is open, flush with vibrantly painted walls, play equipment, furniture and other amenities.

"The best part about this room is they get room to run," Nickell said about the 15-feet-by-50-feet revamped space made available by the county maintenance department.

In addition to a main area, the center contains a living room with furniture, tables and a TV. Here, the older kids can work on homework, play video games or watch movies.

"So much bigger, so much nicer, so much more welcoming, I do believe," child care coordinator Dee Fullenkamp noted.

An additional living area is in the basement hallway along with a nearby nursery within the agency's office.

"Everybody in the agency did something," Nickell said proudly, pointing to paintings by staff members and volunteers, donated toys and repurposed furniture from other departments.

The entire center is monitored by staff using cameras during visitations.

"We have visits every night except for Friday night," Nickell said. "Sometimes we have two or three visits going on at a time."

The previous visitation room was inadequate for many reasons, making it difficult for some parents to interact and bond with their children and hold the youngsters' attention. Furthermore, the children essentially were put on display when other people came to the department seeking benefits or other services.

"Before we were in a five-by-10 room and that's where these people had to stay for two hours, and it's like punishing the kids and parents. It's like we were setting everybody up for failure," Nickell said.

An influx of money from a tax levy, however, allowed the agency to change course. County voters in November 2016 approved a tax levy to help pay for operating and capital-improvement expenditures to support children's services. The 0.4-mill, 10-year levy will generate $438,969 annually to finance enhanced children's services as well as building improvements.

"It is the levy dollars. There's no other way to fund anything like that," Nickell said. "That was one of the things we promised when we went out."

The primary goal of children's services is to place children temporarily in caring homes while the biological parents work out their problems. The department intervenes in households when contacted about concerns of abuse and/or neglect of children.