'Caring For Kids' Monthly Newsletter

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026!

Message from Randall Muth, 
LCCS Executive Director

Welcome to the New Year! We hope that the holiday season was a joyous one for you and your loved ones.

Looking back on 2025 at Lucas County Children Services, there was much that we could feel good about. Following voter passage of Issue 1 in November 2024, we focused on making best use of the $12.2 million this levy generates annually to offset the cost of caring for our most troubled youth, and funding prevention services that stabilize families before child protection needs to intervene.

We put a great deal of effort into solidifying long-term relationships with community resources and service partners, helping to make us a more responsive, client-focused organization. Our permanency initiatives helped families get stabilized once they were ready to reunify. Our expanded family search and engagement activities linked more children with their extended families to keep them together rather than entering out-of-home care. Half of all children entering LCCS custody are now placed with relatives while the family receives services.

Our series of "community conversations" provided residents with opportunities to share their questions and concerns about agency policies and practices, and at the same time, opened our eyes to unmet needs and opportunities for better understanding, particularly by reaching out to fathers.

We are truly humbled by the confidence that Lucas County residents have placed in us, and we are committed to remaining good stewards of their tax dollars. We believe that 2026 will be a year of great promise, and we are looking forward to engaging the community to make that happen.

Cordially,

Randall Muth, J.D.

Executive Director

Lucas County Children Services 
is starting the New Year by bringing its community conversation events 
to a new neighborhood. >> LEARN MORE

Preparing Teens for Young Adulthood

Editor's note: In a previous edition of Caring for Kids, we introduced you to the LCCS Independent Living caseworkers and advocates who work directly with youth ages 14-18. This article explores how that LCCS team prepares some 200 teens for young adulthood and beyond. 
>> LEARN MORE

LCCS wants to see your brightest smiles! Join us at the Maumee Indoor Theater on February 11 from 5 until 8pm. The agency's foster care recruitment team will be taking FREE Valentine’s Day pictures. 
There will also be a screening of a family-friendly movie, at no charge. 
No RSVP required.

For more information, call 419-213-3476

Navigating the child welfare system can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to face it alone.

Do you need help finding the right person or department to answer your child welfare questions? LCCS now offers a Family Help Center. Our helpful Child Welfare Navigators can point you to employees trained to answer your specific questions. We also have a Grievance Officer, who can help you share your concerns in the most productive way possible.