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Pathways of Central Ohio can trace its roots back to 1967 when growing concerns about drug use in Newark brought together the following well-known Newark civic leaders: Attorney (and later Juvenile Judge) Virginia Weiss; Dick Cotrell, Newark City Schools; Sister Barbara Jenks, St. Francis School; local mental health advocate Eve Elliott; and, Rev. Wayne Fowler of Wright Memorial Methodist Church,
Together, they raised $2000 to bring in an expert to facilitate a series of weekend seminars in 1968 to explore alternatives and search for local solutions to drug abuse problems in Newark. The Newark Drug Forum, as the agency was first known, was established to provide services to people with drug abuse concerns who were unlikely to utilize the established mental health system for assistance.
In 1971, the Newark Drug Forum became a United Way agency and a Community Mental Health agency. In 1984, the agency changed its name to the Center for Alternative Resources. In 2001, it became Pathways of Licking County and in 2008, Pathways of Central Ohio, Serving Licking and Knox Counties.
Over the years, the agency has been located over Maybold Shoes, in the Alford Building, and at 35 S. Park Place in Downtown Newark. The administrative offices have been at the current location, 1627 Bryn Mawr Drive, Newark, Ohio since 2001. The 2-1-1 Crisis/Hotline is housed at an undisclosed location.
2-1-1 Crisis/Hotline and Information Center
In 1970, the Crisis Center was the first service organized and operated by the Newark Drug Forum, and to this day is most often referred to as the Crisis Center! For over two years the hotline and walk-in center (coffee house) were staffed entirely by volunteers. It was their dedication and creativity and their commitment to the service and to each other that kept the Crisis Center open, even when it was not clear how the bills would be paid. The Crisis Center was located in the basement of an old building at 112-114 Union St., provided rent-free by Virginia Weiss. Father Frank Schaefer (Blessed Sacrament Church) was a very active volunteer.
In the summer of 1975, the Newark Drug Forum received a grant from the Area Agency on Aging to provide information and referral services to senior citizens. In the following year information and referral services were expanded to serve the general population with United Way and Title XX funding.
In 1977, the addition of a telephone diverter allowed the Crisis Center to provide 24-hour access for the community. In 1980, with the installation of a fourth line, the Crisis Center became available to the western Licking County population on a toll-free basis. In the mid-2000’s, Pathways began providing Crisis/Hotline and Information Center services to Knox County. In 2007 and 2008, the Crisis/Hotline and Information Center, as it is now known, was designated by the PUCO as the 2-1-1 provider for Licking and Knox Counties respectively.
Today, the 2-1-1 Crisis/Hotline handles over 28,000 calls per year. All staff positions are paid and new staff receives 50 hours of training before “going solo” on the phones. All staff pursues the Certified Information and Referral Specialist credential. Two staff members are on each shift 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. Staff has access to a comprehensive database that is constantly updated with local resources.
The 2-1-1 Crisis/Hotline and Information Center is certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health as a Behavioral Health Hotline and is a participating center of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK).
Prevention and Education
Pathways has been providing alcohol and other drug abuse prevention and education services to the Licking County community since 1973. In the beginning, Prevention Specialists provided drug and alcohol abuse prevention programming in area schools. The Junior Youth To Youth program began in the spring of 1987 and Youth to Youth camps have been offered each year since in either the spring or summer. After camp, youth are invited to attend the Youth Advisory Board that meets on Tuesday nights at the agency.
In March of 1991, Pathways began a program called Project Power (now known as Kid Power Plus), which took prevention presentations to local preschools. The Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act grant through ODADAS, started in 1995, allowed a new program to be developed to serve preschool age children. In 1998, the grant was able to encompass service for middle and high school youth, allowing for the addition of year round Youth To Youth focused programming.
In response to the 1997 Licking County Needs Assessment, Pathways wrote and was awarded a grant through ODADAS for the newly created Wellness Partnership program, placing Prevention Specialists in pediatricians’ offices to work on wellness issues with parents and children. The program began operations in February 1998 and continues today.
In the early 2000s, Pathways introduced the evidenced-based curriculums “LifeSkills” and “Project Alert” to local school districts, which continue to be delivered today. Since 2007, Pathways has contracted with the Granville Exempted Village School District to place a substance abuse prevention specialist on-site 20 hours per week. Pathways staff also serve on the Operations and other subcommittees of the “Our Futures Licking County” community coalition project.
In 2008, Pathways was approached by local school districts to consider delivering a substance abuse prevention/education program for youth that were in the very beginning stages of alcohol and other drug use. The Early Intervention program was developed to meet this need.
Today, Pathways provides comprehensive alcohol, tobacco and other drug use prevention consultation assistance to the community and local school districts and now serves nearly every school district in the county at all grade levels. Pathways is recognized as “the prevention agency” in Licking County and is licensed as a Prevention agency by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and the Ohio Department of Mental Health. All staff either holds or are in pursuit of prevention specialist credentials with the State of Ohio.
Child Care Connections
In 1988, Pathways responded to the growing need for childcare for working parents by creating a countywide childcare resource and referral program called Child Care Connections. Since January 1990, Child Care Connections has offered child care referrals for working parents, a resource and toy lending library, background checks, child care provider training, newsletters, and other resource materials. It has recruited family child care home providers and has coordinated Licking County training events.
While continuing to assist parents in securing child care for their children, Child Care Connections has greatly expanded it training and technical assistance to child care providers over the years. In 2001, Pathways began the only comprehensive Child Development Associate (CDA) program in Licking County. The CDA National Credentialing Program is a major national effort initiated in 1971. The purpose of the program is to enhance the quality of child care by defining; evaluating and recognizing the competence of child care professionals. The CDA Credential is awarded to child care professionals who have demonstrated their skill in working with young children and their families by successfully completing the CDA assessment process. This process includes 120 clock hours of training, development of a professional portfolio, meeting specific criteria during an observation and completion of a standardized test. Almost 200 child care professionals have earned their CDA credential through the Child Care Connections program since 2001.
Pathways began offering background checks in 2003 through a grant from EcoLab and expanded to include FBI checks in 2008. A toy lending library was added in 2009.
The Director's Network was started in 2007 in response to requests from child care center administrators to have a forum for networking. The "Pathways to Quality" Conference (first held in 2008) and “Learning to Live Healthy” (also started in 2008) were born out of this group. The two- day conference hosted over 145 participants in 2009. “Learning to Live Healthy” is a series of six trainings sessions that teaches child care professionals to integrate nutrition, fitness and wellness education into their existing curriculum.
Child Care Connections also provides support for “Step Up to Quality” by offering specialized training and technical assistance to all early care and education programs. “Step Up To Quality” is Ohio's voluntary quality rating system established in 2007 for Ohio Department of Job and Family Services licensed child care programs and Type A family child care homes. “Step Up To Quality” recognizes early care and education programs that exceed quality benchmarks over and above Ohio's licensing standards. Programs can achieve ratings of one, two or three stars.
Child Care Connections is affiliated with the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association (OCCRRA), the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) and is a member of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Capable Parents
Capable Parents began serving the community in 1990. It started with one part-time prevention specialist and offered one curriculum, “Parent to Parent” a parent education program targeted to parents of middle and high school youth. Capable Parents also provided information of the effects of ATOD use during pregnancy to clinics and doctors’ offices.
In response to community need, Pathways added a curriculum for the parents of young children and home-based parent education for those unable to attend a class.
The Licking County Children and Families First Council (LCCFC) awarded Pathways several grants. The Capable Parents program received two two-year grants, the first for a home-based child development program including education, mentoring and referrals, and the second for Parenting with Humor workshops. Staff expanded to 2.5 FTEs.
In collaboration with the Woodlands the Capable Parents Program provided the Families and Schools Together Program (FAST) to Head Start parents and children. The FAST program then moved to Flying Colors Public Preschool.
In 2003 the Capable Parents Program began using the evidenced-based “Parents as Teachers” for the home-based services. During this time, staff was also trained to work with the parents of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome children.
Then, the Community Mental Health and Recovery Board of Licking and Knox Counties (CMHRB) asked Pathways to consider providing the Incredible Years curriculum, in collaboration with Flying Colors Public Preschool and Moundbuilders Guidance Center. The Incredible Years Program received a three-year grant from the Ohio Children Trust Fund to continue the program. The CMHRB also provided funding for this program. The Incredible Years program continues to collaborate with Flying Colors to provide programs for children and parents.
Pathways also began the Clean and Sober Parenting Program at Courage House, a residential program for women recovering from substance abuse. The “Active Parenting Now” program was added to address the needs of parents with children 5 through 12 years of age.
Early funding came from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) Women’s Set Aside grant, which continues today. The Capable Parents Program also receives funding from United Way of Licking County and the CMHRB. Capable Parents is certified by ODADAS and ODMH as a prevention program.
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