Supreme Court Advisory Committee Co-Chair Appointed
Jennifer Justice will co-chair the Advisory Committee on Children, Families & the Courts.
Jennifer Justice will co-chair the Advisory Committee on Children, Families & the Courts.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor has appointed a member of the Advisory Committee on Children, Families & the Courts as one of its co-chairs.
Jennifer Justice, deputy director of the Office of Families and Children within the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS), replaces retired co-chair Dr. Gary Crow. Justice will serve out the remainder of Crow’s unexpired term through the end of 2013. She joins fellow co-chair Marion County Family Court Judge Deborah Alspach.
Justice brings 16 years of experience in child welfare work in Ohio and Florida. Since 2011, she has been an advisory committee member and served as co-chair of its Workgroup on Differential Response.
Justice leads the ODJFS office responsible for state level administration and oversight of programs that prevent child abuse and neglect; provide services to abused/neglected children and their families (birth, foster, and adoptive); license foster homes and residential facilities; and investigate allegations of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Judge Alspach said she looks forward to working with Jennifer. “Her wealth of knowledge in the area of child welfare and her vision on continuity of care of children throughout the system will be a great asset to the committee. Welcome Jennifer!”
Judge Alspach also thanked Crow for his service.
“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Dr. Crow. He was a great advocate for children and families and worked hard to ensure that children were placed in good family environments when they could not be placed with their parents,” she said. “He also strongly supported kinship care and contributed to the advisory committee in developing kinship care expansion as a study for the Subcommittee on Responding to Child Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency. He will be missed, but we hope that he enjoys a long and happy retirement.”