The League of Women Voters hosted an informational meeting with Allen County Children Services Tuesday Evening. Tuesday Night's topic, "Aging out of Children from Children's Service," shed light on what happens with children involved in children services following their 18th birthday when they become a legal adult.

To help people get started down that path, they are holding an informational session on July 9th at Vibe Coffee house called “Fostering the Future: Your Road to Foster Parenting Starts Here.” The session will give people the chance to ask questions about being foster parents from the children's services recruitment team and from foster parents themselves.

Employees at Allen County Children Services donned their blue in support of those they serve. With an 11% increase in cases, they responded to 880 reports of abuse in 2021. 25% of those resulted in children being removed due to the severity of the abuse or neglect. They say it’s imperative that people speak up about abuse or neglect.

The agency invited local law enforcement to the 2021 Flag Raising Ceremony to recognize their work in fighting against child abuse and neglect. The flags were presented by Arionna Finch and Avionna Robertson. The Children's Memorial Flag flies to represent the youth lost to violence. The Executive Director of Allen County Children Services, Sarah Newland, says they investigated 850 cases of child abuse and neglect last year and want to use April to keep it from happening again.

Following nearly an hour and a half long executive session, the special committee recommended that the interim executive director Sarah Newland become the permanent executive director. Newland has spent 9 years as an assistant Allen County prosecutor who handled cases for Allen County Children Services prior to serving in the interim role since June of 2020.