By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - For Jann Heffner, the bywords for protecting children and serving families are urgency and integrity.

The new executive director of Butler County Children Services outlined her general philosophy at an informal staff gathering to welcome her in her first day at the agency.

"I'm very concerned with the mental health of a youngster, not just the welfare side," she said.

A young child, Ms. Heffner said, needs to be evaluated and served as quickly as possible so that their development isn't harmed.

"That youngster will never be able to recapture those early years of development," she said.

Integrity should govern staff members' relationships with each other, the community and the children and families they serve, she said.

"Until you have respect for yourself, for the folks you're working with, and your colleagues, there are going to be problems," Ms. Heffner told the staff.

Children Services is in the midst of sweeping reforms that started more than two years ago.

At that time, county officials and others criticized the agency for unnecessarily removing children from their families, placing too many children in out-of-county foster homes and being unresponsive to families and the general public.

A state audit also recommended changes.

Ms. Heffner, who had been executive director for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in Columbus, said she wants to completely computerize the agency and to provide plenty of staff training.

"It's really important that there is an agreed-upon mission that everybody signs onto, and that they have the tools to do it," she said.

Ms. Heffner officially became executive director Dec. 1 and has been working from her home in Columbus while recovering from hip-replacement surgery.

She will live in an apartment in Butler County during the work week and spend weekends at her home.

"She's going to be a wonderful addition to the agency," said Hall Thompson, acting chairman of the Children Services Board.

Ms. Heffner said she will continue the agency's recent emphasis on family reunification programs.

"I'm committed to keeping (kids and their families) together," she said. "And when they can't be kept together, I'm committed to finding a good, adoptive family."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com