About Linking Systems of Care for Ohio’s Youth

The Project

Linking Systems of Care for Ohio’s Youth (LSCOY) is Ohio’s effort to better coordinate and align health care, child welfare, education, justice, and other systems both statewide and locally to ensure that, regardless of the system of entry, young victims of trauma and their families receive help in a timely and seamless manner.

Ohio is one of four demonstration sites in the United States that received Linking Systems of Care funding from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

Helping Systems

LSCOY aims to link systems impacting children, youth, and young adult victims on a statewide level for greater coordination to improve family outcomes, responsiveness, efficiency, and to increase leveraging of additional resources for Ohio’s child/youth victims.

Criminal Justice System

Law enforcement, prosecution, victim/witness programs, courts that deal with felonies, misdemeanors and juvenile delinquency, and victim’s rights attorneys.
Civil and Domestic Relations Court Systems

Courts that deal with divorce, parenting time, child abuse, neglect and dependency, civil protection orders and other civil actions, CASAs, GALs and private attorneys.
Victim Advocacy

Information about Child Advocacy Centers (CAC), domestic violence and rape crisis/sexual assault, victims’ rights information, best practices for supporting LGBTQIA+ survivors, Children Who Witness Violence projects, information about peer support and peer support groups and other programs using empowerment / advocacy models.
Child Welfare

Information about child protective services, foster care, adoption, transition aged youth aging/aged out of foster care, and kinship care benefits and services.
Health Care

Primary and specialty physical health care, behavioral health care, occupational, art, music and other holistic therapies, psychiatry, counseling, and group therapy.
Emergency Services

Forensic nurses, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE), emergency medical care, suicide and other crisis intervention services, emergency shelter, and Trauma Centers.
Community Based Support

Food banks, permanent and supported housing, rental assistance, eviction prevention, central intake services, Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) and other utility support and education programs.