South Central Ohio Job and Family Services (SCOJFS) is responsible for investigating reports of abuse and neglect involving children and older adults in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton Counties. This responsibility resides within the Protective Services Department at SCOJFS.

The primary goal when working with families is the preservation of the family unit, which means keeping children and parents together, while working through their family issues. If this is not possible, the agency will look at alternative living arrangements, which could include kinship or foster/adoptive placements. Ultimately, the agency wants to ensure children are in a stable, supportive, and loving home.

Protective Services depends on special families to open their hearts and homes to provide temporary and permanent care.

When children are removed from their homes, temporarily or permanently, as the result of child abuse, neglect or other unsafe conditions, SCOJFS calls on foster and adoptive families to provide the children safe, loving homes. Foster families care for children temporarily while Protective Services works with the children’s birth families to resolve issues. When children must be removed permanently from their homes, adoptive families provide a new, permanent, nurturing home.

Homes are needed for children of all ages. There is always a critical need of homes for teens, sibling groups, emergency care homes, and foster families who will also consider adoption of children of all ages. Foster parents work together with the caseworker to meet the needs of the child placed in their home.