DeWine's foster care initiatives

Governor Mike DeWine has proposed a new budget to improve the state's foster care system in hopes that this will expand existing programs and children's services.

He says some patterns in the system need to change.

"Children are being reunified with families, even when it clearly remains unsafe for them to do so," said Governer DeWine. "Children are being removed from foster families who have loved and cared for them their entire lives, to be placed with relatives, that they've never even met. All this must change," he said.

The budget consists of nearly 80 million dollars, split between six different children services programs.

"His budget last time and his budget this time is not about just throwing money at agencies," said Randy Muth, Executive Director of Mahoning County Children's Services Board. "It's targeted, it's evidence based, it is designed to solve problems that exist," he said.

Muth told 21 News that with this newly proposed budget, foster care facilities would be able to help more families in our valley have access to even more resources.

"If this funding gets through, if it gets passed to the general assembly and becomes law, that will double I think our investment here. I think we'll be able to add another, we call it a dyad, another combination of a specialized child welfare case worker and a family peer mentor," said Muth.