Groundwork Ohio Roadshow 2026: Fulton, Henry, Defiance & Williams Counties
Updated: Sep 15
Groundwork Ohio’s Roadshow 2026 traveled to Archbold on September 9, bringing together public health professionals, home visitors, early childhood leaders, community organizations, and policymakers from Fulton, Henry, Defiance, and Williams counties. Participants included State Representative Jim Hoops (R-Napoleon), staff from Ohio Senate President Rob McColley’s office, and staff from U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno’s office.
Our conversation focused on what families with young children need in rural northwest Ohio—and quickly revealed one of the region’s greatest strengths: communities that understand they can accomplish more by working together.
Throughout the morning, we heard how local health departments and community organizations are building relationships across county lines, connecting families with services, and expanding support for parents and babies. We also heard about the challenges that remain, from navigating a complicated system of resources to language access, health care availability, transportation, and ensuring families know where to turn for help.
Meeting Families During a Critical Window
A major focus of our conversation was the expansion of Family Connects Ohio across the four-county region.
Family Connects offers families with newborns a visit from a registered nurse, regardless of income. Typically occurring around three weeks after birth, the visit falls during an important window: after many babies have had their first pediatric appointments, but before a mother may return for her six-week postpartum visit.
“A lot can happen in those first six weeks,” one participant reminded us.
During a Family Connects visit, nurses can check on the health of both parent and baby, screen for maternal mental health concerns, offer support with feeding and safe sleep, and identify other needs affecting the family. Just as importantly, nurses can connect families with resources in their own communities. Family Connects is also available to adoptive and foster parents and can provide bereavement visits following the loss of a baby.
The universal nature of the program was especially important to participants. Bringing home a baby can be challenging for any family, and parents do not have to meet an income requirement before asking for support.
Stronger Together Across County Lines
Again and again, we heard that one of northwest Ohio’s greatest assets is the way neighboring counties work together.
That collaboration was central to bringing Family Connects Ohio to the region. Fulton, Henry, Defiance, and Williams counties joined together to submit a joint application to implement Family Connects Ohio across the four-county area—pooling their expertise and building on relationships that were already well established.
Public health leaders described years of collaboration that created a strong foundation for implementing Family Connects. As individual counties launched the program, nurses from counties preparing to launch were able to shadow home visits and learn from their neighbors. Local leaders regularly share challenges, solutions, and resources rather than trying to solve every problem independently.
As one participant put it:
“We’re not competing with each other because we all have to do the same thing. And why don’t we just work together to make it easier?”
That collaboration matters for families, too. Participants described situations where a family encountered a provider in one county but lived in another. Rather than ending the conversation at the county line, professionals could make a connection to a trusted colleague and help the family take the next step.
In rural communities where each county may not have every resource a family needs, those relationships become an important part of the early childhood system.
Making a Strong System Easier to Navigate
Having resources available, however, does not automatically make them easy for families to use.
Participants acknowledged a challenge we have heard during other Roadshow stops: families can be overwhelmed by the number of programs, phone calls, eligibility rules, and providers they encounter. Even professionals who understand the system can struggle to identify the right door for a family to enter.
The conversation emphasized the importance of creating clear referral pathways and making connections rather than simply handing families another phone number.
One participant described it as “holding on to that baton and knowing where to pass it along.” When a family seeking one service mentions that they are expecting another child, recently lost a job, need WIC, or have another concern, a knowledgeable provider can recognize that need and make the next connection.
The goal is not for parents to become experts in every available program. It is to build a system where the people they already trust can help them navigate it.
Reaching Every Family
Participants also identified language access as an important area for continued work.
The four counties are serving a growing number of families whose primary language is not English, including Spanish-speaking families. Some counties have bilingual community health workers or contracted interpreters, while others rely more heavily on telephone interpretation. Providers noted that many written resources available to families are not even translated into Spanish.
That creates practical challenges during an intensive 90- to 120-minute Family Connects visit, but it also raises a larger question: How do we make sure every family can understand and access the support available to them?
Community health workers were highlighted as one promising answer. Their ability to build relationships and trust within communities can strengthen cultural and linguistic access, although participants also raised concerns about sustaining funding for those positions.
Supporting Families Through Loss
Our conversation also made space for a part of maternal and infant health that can be difficult to discuss: pregnancy and infant loss.
A representative from Sufficient Grace Ministries shared how bereavement support can help parents, siblings, and entire families navigate grief. The organization is partnering with Family Connects Ohio to help equip nurses serving families in the region, building their confidence and skills to support parents after a loss.
Participants emphasized that the impact does not end with the loss itself. Parents still experience the physical realities of postpartum recovery, families may need mental health support, and siblings may struggle to understand their grief.
It was an important reminder that supporting healthy beginnings also means standing alongside families when their journey does not go as expected.
What We’ll Carry Forward
Our time in Archbold showed us a region with tremendous community assets: dedicated nurses and home visitors, strong public health departments, Head Start and early childhood programs, community health workers, bereavement supports, and organizations committed to helping families thrive.
Having state and federal policymakers and staff at the table also created an opportunity for local leaders to share these experiences directly with decision-makers as Ohio prepares for a new administration and General Assembly.
But perhaps the greatest asset we saw was the relationships connecting those resources.
In a rural region spanning multiple counties, no single organization—or county—can meet every need. Fulton, Henry, Defiance, and Williams counties are demonstrating what it looks like to build a stronger system by sharing knowledge, opening doors for one another, and recognizing that helping a family matters more than which county or program ultimately provides the help.
As Groundwork Ohio continues traveling across the state, we’ll carry those lessons with us and use what we hear to help inform future policy, investment, and action for Ohio’s youngest children and their families.
Learn More
Explore Groundwork Ohio's county fact sheets to learn more about the data behind this Roadshow stop.
