Seneca County observes Handle With Care Week

SENECA COUNTY — Community partners celebrated Handle With Care Week in Seneca County May 7-13. Handle With Care, an initiative of Seneca County Family and Children First Council, seeks to avoid secondary trauma and encourages positive encounters between first responders and children. When a first responder encounters a child in a traumatic situation, a notification is made to the child's school to let school personnel know he or she needs to be handled with care. No details about the incident are shared. Seneca County was the first county in Ohio north of Columbus to launch a Handle With Care program in March 2021. This year's celebration started with a community kickball game at Meadowbrook Park in Bascom that included first responders, school personnel and youth. A ceremony before the game honored Steve and Kathee Bruno of The Tiffin Crawl for their support and Adrea Schindler for her winning Handle With Care T-shirt design. The ceremony also included proclamations delivered by Tiffin Mayor Dawn Iannantuono and Seneca County Commissioner Bill Frankart. Schindler rolled the ball to Sharon George, director of Seneca County Family and Children First Council, for the ceremonial first kick. Handle With Care Week included first-responder visits to Bridges Preparatory Academy, Fostoria Elementary School and Lincoln Pre-K. Throughout the week, appreciation was expressed for parents, schools, Seneca County Family and Children First Council members, state partners and first responders. The week concluded with a first-responder appreciation lunch at North Central Ohio Educational Service Center. The week was made possible by support from The Tiffin Crawl and the Brunos; Humana; Meadowbrook Park, Troy Breidenbach and Bascom Junior Baseball Association; Bair Bros.; Seneca County Family and Children First Council; and community partners. Active Handle With Care schools include Bridges Preparatory Academy, Calvert Catholic Schools, Fostoria City Schools, Hopewell-Loudon Schools, New Riegel Schools, North Central Academy, Old Fort Schools, Seneca East Schools, Sentinel Career and Technology Center and Tiffin City Schools. First-responder departments that have been trained include Attica-Venice-Reed Fire District, Bascom EMS, Bascom Joint Fire District, Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Department, Fostoria Fire Division, Fostoria Police Department, NBS Joint Fire District, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Scipio-Republic Fire Department, Seneca County Community Emergency Response Team, Seneca County Sheriff's Office, Tiffin Fire Rescue Division and Tiffin Police Department. Seneca County Firefighter's Association, Seneca County Youth Center and Seneca County Juvenile and Probate Court also were trained in Handle With Care. More than 70 notifications have been entered since the program launched, and first-responder visits have occurred at Bridges Preparatory Academy, Fostoria City Schools, Hopewell-Loudon Schools, Old Fort Schools and Tiffin City Schools. The effort to implement HWC statewide is directed by Hopewell Health Centers and funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Visit https://handlewithcareoh.org for more information.