Ohio Department of Education Families

Many families in the Price Hill area are living in poverty. Therefore students often go without basics such as school supplies, medical screenings and haircuts. At the same time, many families are unaware of free social services and community resources available to them. One purpose of the Back to School Fair is to ensure that area students receive these free supplies and services. A second purpose is to provide parents with information about other types of services available to them and their children through local agencies.		Contact: Robert Myers Organization: Hamilton County Family and Children First District: Cincinnati Public Phone: (513) 363-4571    Families in three zip codes that are living at poverty level Centrally located neighborhood church Once a year, approximately two weeks before school begins
The Hamilton County, Quebec Heights Family and Children First resource coordinator teamed with nine agencies and schools to put together the Price Hill Back to School Fair. Neighborhood groups and community businesses donated school supplies to be given to students who attended. Students received free vision, speech and hearing screens. Volunteers from local agencies serving families and children staffed booths to answer questions and distribute information to parents. Local and charter schools set up displays promoting their programs, with representatives talking to families about what their schools have to offer. Local fire and police department representatives also talked with families about safety and drug prevention. We supplied empty bags at registration for families to collect agency materials. Parents and children were required to attend together.
This year, 409 adults attended the Back to School Fair with their children, and 1,200 students received free backpacks filled with school supplies. Workers conducted 62 hearing screenings, 32 speech screenings and 72 vision screenings on children. Fifty-six children received free haircuts, and 62 agency representatives in 28 booths provided information to parents. In all, 1,609 people attended. Many families who might have been unable to purchase school supplies this year obtained them at no cost. Families also received specific information about accessing social services. We believe that receiving these back-to-school supplies and other resources gives students a better start on the school year and increases the likelihood of student success.
Children becoming bored and impatient while waiting in line for services To solve this problem, we hired roving clowns and magicians to entertain the kids. We also had outside games like corn-toss, and at previous fairs we have set up a moon-walking chamber. Moving a large crowd through in a three-hour period  We set up the provider booths and school supplies so attendees could register, receive their school supplies and visit the booths without creating tie-ups. We also clustered providers who required paperwork in one area, to keep the flow going. Doing pre-haircut lice checks without causing embarrassment We set up a private area for lice checks. If a haircutter found lice, the student received a certificate for a free haircut to be redeemed after the lice condition was eliminated. When funding has permitted, we have given free lice-treatment kits to these families. Providing grade-appropriate school supplies To make sure that students receive supplies appropriate for their grades, we have school personnel identify supplies by grade level and label the supply bags accordingly. Ensuring that families do not bypass registration We give students a punch card they must have marked off when they pick up school supplies, receive a haircut and participate in games. Crowd control We hire two police officers to keep things moving smoothly.
We hold an evaluation meeting and use information we’ve gathered to improve the following year’s event. Each year we track the number of families who attended and the number of sets of school supplies distributed. We also track the number of health screenings and haircuts and look at the numbers served in each of our targeted zip codes. In prior years we had averaged approximately 800 students and 300 parents. In 2008 our numbers increased substantially. We have reduced the time allotted for the fair from four to three hours, and we still were able to serve all the participants. Four local school principals expressed the belief that the event was very successful and they were proud to be part of something that offered so much to Price Hill families. Many of the agencies operating display tables informed us that families have signed up for services as a direct result of their contact with an agency representative at the event. Each school year, parents thank us for helping provide supplies, health screenings and haircuts. Periodically parents let us know they have signed up with an agency as a result of information provided at the fair.
This year, nine local agencies and schools formed a team to plan and carry out the fair. Every year, team members meet twice a month from March through August to complete fair arrangements. Funding and resources have been provided by a ministry foundation, local businesses and churches. In 2008, an apartment association donated 1,100 backpacks filled with school supplies.