TOLEDO, Ohio — The Lucas County Child Protection Task Force, which was convened by the Board of Lucas County Commissioners in 2025, has released a report detailing eight actionable recommendations that can be taken to strengthen the County’s child protection system.
The recommendations in the report were developed through a structured three-phase process that was guided by core principles of equity, transparency, and collaboration. The recommendations identified by the task force are interconnected and designed to function as a cohesive system of reform.
“These recommendations are actionable strategies put together by a diverse task force made up of stakeholders with lived experience, professional child welfare backgrounds, mandatory reporters, and community leaders,” the Lucas County Commissioners said. “It is our expectation that our child welfare community immediately collaborate and act on these recommendations to help ensure every family in Lucas County experiences a child protection system that is compassionate, equitable, responsive, transparent, and accountable.”
The following recommendations are detailed throughout the report:
- Expand community-based visitation, engagement, and prevention spaces.
- Map services for child maltreatment prevention and improve family navigation and resource access.
- Implement coordinated prevention networks and post-reunification support.
- Deliver equity-centered workforce training and front-door practice reform.
- Embed lived experience leadership across governance, practice, and accountability.
- Launch comprehensive equity-focused kinship foster care recruitment.
- Increase coordination to reduce placement disruptions and promote stability of foster youth.
- Reestablish a Lucas County Ombudsman with public reporting authority.
The Board of Lucas County Commissioners convened the task force in 2025 to bring essential representatives of the local community together to study the necessary supports, partnerships, and services families in Lucas County need to protect their children.
The task force followed a three-phase process to guide its work. It began by establishing a shared vision, guiding principles, and priority areas, informed by data, system review, and lived experience.
It then developed draft recommendations through subcommittee work, drawing on national models and focusing on equity and community impact. In the final phase, the task force refined and prioritized recommendations based on alignment with priorities, feasibility, and potential impact, resulting in a focused set of actionable strategies.
The recommendations represent a meaningful step toward transforming the child protection system in Lucas County into one that is more responsive, more equitable, and more centered on the well-being of children and families.
On Tuesday, the Commissioners voted 3-0 to accept the final report from the task force.