MANSFIELD — Michelle Miller brought an educational background on June 1 when she took over as executive director of Richland County Youth & Family Council.
So it came as no surprise Thursday when Miller gained approval from county commissioners to award three contracts totaling $110,063 related to educational topics.
The money will come from pooled funds contributed by agency members of the local YFC. Those members provide a total of about $250,000 in pooled funds each year to pay for services to local children and families.
Commissioners approved a $19,650.50 contract to the Mansfield-Richland Area Educational Foundation; $11,288 to Community Action for Capable Youth and $79,125 to Richland Public Health.
The Mansfield-Richland Area Educational Foundation, part of the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development, will use the funds to pay for 35 local sophomore students to take part in its seven-month Young Leaders Institute.
The program provides students “with training that will cultivate leadership development, inform career decisions, and foster civic engagement,” according to the chamber website.
“They meet a couple of the different goals that we have with the Youth and Family Council, as far as ‘youth will succeed in school,’ ‘youth will choose healthy behaviors’ and ‘youth will success successfully transition into adulthood,'” said Miller, who previously worked as a literacy specialist in Columbus Public Schools; as a service coordinator for the “Help Me Grow” program in Franklin County; and as a school teacher in Charlotte, N.C.
CACY will use the money to offer mentoring services for 25 local females, ages 10 to 18, regarding alcohol and drug use.
A non-profit, community coalition formed locally in 1978, CACY “continues to offer, develop, implement, facilitate and coordinate violence, tobacco, alcohol and drug prevention, and education activities,” according to its website.
The contract with RPH pays for 300 home visits as part of the department’s free Prenatal/Newborn Home Visit program
In the program, RPH sends registered nurses from to visit expectant mothers before the birth of their child or their newborn child (up to 8 weeks old) in their home.
The nurses will do assessments and help answer questions in areas such as growth, emotions, feeding, community information and child development.
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Miller said things are going well in her new role, leading an organization that includes representatives from CACY; Help Me Grow; Mansfield City Schools, Richland Public Health, Ohio Family and Children First; Ohio Heartland CAC Head Start; Red Treehouse; The Rehab Center; Richland County Children Services; Richland County JFS; Richland County Juvenile Court; Richland County Mental Health & Recovery Services Board; OhioMeansJobs Richland County; Richland Newhope; Third Street Family Health Services; and the United Way of Richland County.
“I’m just trying to still learn everyone in the county and figure out what’s going on as far as what I need to do to be successful in this position,” Miller said.
“Coming in from an inner-city background, I’m still trying to prove myself to some people and just show them that I know what I can do here,” she said.
(Click below to download and read the three contracts approved Thursday.)