Staff at the Probate/Juvenile Court, from left to right: Judge Michael Wehrkamp, Probation Officer Marv Ankney, Deputy Clerk Melissa Daeger, Probation Officer Austin Speice, Deputy Clerk Sally Wannemacher, and Diversion Officer Elizabeth Zartman.
Competitive RECLAIM & House Bill 153 Grants will Support New Services for Paulding County Youth
Paulding County Juvenile Court Judge Michael Wehrkamp announced the Juvenile Court has been awarded two competitive grants totaling $193,348 from the Ohio Department of YouthServices, the juvenile corrections system for the state of Ohio. The grants will support new programming and staff training aimed at reducing the number of youth who commit offenses, while giving them tools to succeed in life.
“I could not be prouder or more appreciative of the efforts of my staff, our collaborating partners, and our gracious volunteers who each played a role in our county winning these much-needed competitive grants,” Judge Wehrkamp said. “These grant dollars are already at work in our county, and I’m confident the benefits of these grants will, in time, be evident and significant.”
The Paulding County Juvenile Court was awarded a three-year, $150,000 Competitive Reasoned and Equitable Community and Local Alternatives to the Incarceration of Minors (RECLAIM) grant. This performance-driven, evidence-based grant will support the creation of a new Diversion Program at the Juvenile Court, which will give first-time, non-violent juvenile offenders an opportunity to complete alternative programming that requires them to accept responsibility for their actions and remain accountable, in exchange for avoiding a formally filed complaint. Paulding County was one of just 16 Ohio counties awarded a Competitive RECLAIM grant in 2017.
The Juvenile Court was also awarded a House Bill 153 grant totaling $43,348, which will provide court staff with formal training on evidence-based techniques and curricula that have been shown to positively impact the behavior of youth in the juvenile justice system.
Dr. Keith Durkin of Ohio Northern University will provide quality assurance oversight and track the Juvenile Court’s progress in meeting the goals it has set for the grant dollars.
The Competitive RECLAIM grant-writing team consisted of Judge Michael Wehrkamp, Juvenile Probation Officers Marv Ankney and Austin Speice, Deputy Clerks Melissa Daeger and Sally Wannemacher, as well as two Paulding County residents and community-minded volunteers, retired school superintendent Pat Ross and retired juvenile justice professional Kathy Nern. Collaborating partners for the Competitive RECLAIM grant include: the Paulding County Prosecutor’s Office; Westwood Behavioral Health Center, Inc.; Recovery Services of Northwest Ohio; Antwerp Local Schools; Paulding Exempted Village Schools; Wayne Trace Local Schools; Western Buckeye Educational Service Center; Defiance-Paulding Consolidated Job and Family Services; Shalom Counseling and Mediation Center; and Tri-County Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board.
