Ohio Affiliate Update

Audrey R. Kraynak, Ph.D., CFLE, NCSP, ABSNP, Affiliate President
/ NCFR Report, Spring 2021

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The Ohio Council on Family Relations (OHCFR) met four times via phone conference or Zoom during 2020. In the face of the year’s many challenges, we continue to strive to be visible and to meet the interests and needs of Family Science professionals, students, and interested others. Over the past several years, we have used low-cost technology in a variety of ways to foster engagement and maintain OHCFR’s visibility. Here’s how we continued to use social media during 2020:

  • Spotlighted OHCFR board members and other professionals on the OHCFR website (oh.ncfr.org) and Facebook page (fb.me/OHCFR). These posts highlight the diverse career paths of OHCFR members and/or CFLEs.
  • Continued the live webinar series—free to OHCFR members—and provided NCFR-approved CEUs. In August, the webinar “PAX Tools for Community Professionals” was presented to well over 100 participants. We have several webinar ideas that we hope to present in the first quarter of 2021, including “PAX Tools for School@Home Community Educators,” the emotional needs of youth due to the pandemic, and self-care for caregivers. Check out the NCFR Ohio Discussion Group, the OHCFR Facebook Page, and the OHCFR website for upcoming dates of webinars and other activities.

Several of our members have contributed to NCFR via presentations at the NCFR Annual Conference, writing an article for an NCFR publication or leading a webinar. In April, the Ohio State University Extension agents Patrice Powers-Barker, CFLE, and Katie Schlagheck, CFLE, partnered with Jim Bates, PhD, Extension field specialist, to provide the webinar “Using the Logic Model and Family Planning Wheel to Strengthen Communication, Planning, and Assessment of Family Life Education Programs.” OHCFR was well represented at the 2020 Annual NCFR conference, with presenters including L. Altenburger, B. Barrios, A. Bermea, M. Blankemeyer, S. Brown, R. Eustace, K. Guzzo, L. Halliman, E. Holman, A. James , K. Kuvalanka, S. Shoppe-Sullivan, S. Tobias, A. VanBergen, K. Walker, J. Kirby Wilkens, and J. Zhang. Katie Schlagheck, CFLE, and Audrey Kraynak, CFLE, contributed articles to the summer and fall CFLE Network newsletter on financial literacy and compassion fatigue, respectively.

Members of OHCFR who have received awards this past year or are in leadership positions include the following:

  • Former OHCFR president and secretary-treasurer and advisory board member Maureen Blankemeyer, Ph.D., CFLE, who was presented with the Affiliate Meritorious Service Award for her contributions to the Ohio Council on Family Relations and the field of Family Life Education at the NCFR Annual Conference in November.
  • Scott Tobias, Ph.D., CFLE, incoming OHCFR president, is also chair-elect for the NCFR Section Advancing Family Science.
  • M. Elise Radina, Ph.D., CFLE, associate dean at Miami University of Ohio, has been appointed to be the conference program chair for the 2023 NCFR Annual Conference, scheduled to be held in Orlando, Florida.

In January 2021, we will send out a survey to OHCFR members and CFLEs to gather information about increasing our ability to meet the interests and needs of members. We hope the results of the survey will be used to update our strategic plan and enhance our planning of activities and topics.