CCAO/CEAO Winter Conference

Details about this year's Winter Conference are still being developed, but please note that the 2023 CCAO / CEAO Winter Conference will take place from December 6 - 8 at a new location! This year's conference will take place at the new Hilton Tower located at 402 N. High Street in Columbus.


2022 Winter Conference Materials

Thank you to all our attendees, speakers, panelists, and sponsors for another successful Winter Conference! Attendees had the opportunity to sit in on a variety of sessions to learn from experts in other counties and other fields on subjects such as poverty, reentry programs, the county board of revision, and more!

Summaries of each session are included in the table below, along with links to the presentations and materials shared during the sessions. If a session is not listed, there were no materials or presentations shared. Only CCAO sessions are listed. 

Session Title & Summary Speakers and Presentations

Mitigating Poverty in Your Community
Explore pathways counties have identified as key in their efforts to mitigate poverty in their communities.

Wade Westfall, Miami County Commissioner
Oral Presentation Only

Richard Osgood, Director of Development, Miami County
Presentation

Michael Patton, Director, Hamilton County Job and Family Services
Presentation

Navigating Economic Turbulence: The Outlook for 2023
This session will examine the major economic and demographic factors driving the current inflationary environment and will assess the impacts of the Federal Reserve’s response on consumers, sales tax revenue, and the labor market. Presenters will discuss the economic outlook for 2023 and possible scenarios for resolving current economic problems.

Dr. Mark Partridge, C. William Swank Chair of Rural-Urban Policy, The Ohio State University
Presentation

Dr. Margaret Jodlowski, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University
Presentation

Stepping Up: How it Can Benefit Your County
This session will provide information about the Stepping Up program in Ohio. The information will include how to implement the program, the benefits of the program, and a question-and-answer portion about Stepping Up.

Eve Stratton, Former Supreme Court of Ohio Justice and Ohio Stepping Up Project Director
Materials

Ryan Kidwell, Hancock County Jail Administrator
Presentation

David Frederick, MSAH, Assistant Director of Policy and Implementation at Peg's Foundation
Presentation

Ohio Builds: Appalachian Community Grant Program
House Bill 377 established a $500 million grant program with the goal of investing in sustainable, transformational projects for Ohio’s 32 Appalachian counties. The program will make available both planning and implementation grants. A representative from the Ohio Department of Development will provide an update on the program and review the application process, scoring criteria, and timelines.

John Carey, Director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia
Presentation

Jails: What You Need to Know as a Commissioner
This session will provide a variety of information on jails in Ohio. The panelists will cover Jail Standards in Ohio, psychotropic medication reimbursement for county jail inmates, jail treatment linkage programs, jail inspection reports, and a question-and answer period at the end of the panel.

Michael Heldman, Hancock County Sheriff
Oral Presentation Only

Chris Nicastro, Chief of the Bureau of Criminal Justice Services, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Presentation

John Adams, Chief of the Bureau of Adult Detention, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Oral Presentation Only

Board Appointments (in just 317 easy steps!)
In 2016, Delaware County realized it needed to overhaul and improve its board-appointment system. Vacancies were running high and a number of boards were not operating effectively. Getting the Board of Commissioners more actively involved in the process proved to be the solution. Delaware County Commissioner Gary Merrell and Director of Communications Jane Hawes explain the hows and whys of what was done.

Gary Merrell, Delaware County Commissioner
Joint Presentation with Jane Hawes

Jane Hawes, Delaware County Director of Communications
Appointee Guidebook

Prenatal to Three Learning Community: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Open to all, this session will explore the impact Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have on children and strategies local leaders can use to prevent and address ACEs in Ohio.

Carrie Almasi, Senior Health Policy Analyst, Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Presentation

Arabella Pluta-Ehlers, Program Manager, Children, Youth & Families, National Association of Counties
Presentation

Other Materials:
PN-3 ABCs
Children and Families, NACo Publication
Counties for Kids Letter to the Editor Template
Getting Started: PN-3 Guidebook
Montgomery County ACEs Awareness Initiative
PN-3 County Leader Toolkit
Health Policy Institute of Ohio ACEs Policy Brief

The Bad Guy Sitting in Your Inbox
“The Bad Guy Sitting in Your Inbox!” or technical term Business Email Compromise (BEC) – This session will provide a better understanding of the current cyber threat landscape and how you can protect yourself and your county from falling victim. Please join Tony Rucci, CyberSecurity Consultant, for a Live Darkweb Demo and various examples of BEC.

Antonio A. (Tony) Rucci, Counterintelligence Special Agent (Retired), Independent CyberSecurity Consultant
Presentation

Reentry Programs: Strategies that Counties Can Implement
to Help Justice Involved Citizens Successfully Reenter the
Community
Reentry programs provide necessary workforce and social services to incarcerated individuals and play a key role in their chance of returning to jail or prison. This session will highlight the reentry programs currently operating in Montgomery and Tuscarawas Counties. Each panelist will provide an overview of their program, and there will be a question-and-answer period to follow the presentations.

Jenna M. Kanter-Mesa Vasquez, Reentry Coordinator, Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office
Presentation

Amy Piner, Commissioner Assistant to Montgomery County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman
Presentation

Lyneal Wainwright, Internal Reentry Administrator, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Presentation

Innovative County Workforce Development Programs and Strategies
Hear from county workforce development experts on how they are preparing Ohioans for employment.

Rick Szabrak, Director, Fairfield County Economic Development
Presentation

Carol Kern, Business Services Consultant, OhioMeansJobs Seneca County
Presentation

Brandy Booth, Workforce Development Administrator, OhioMeansJobs Knox County
Presentation

County Board of Revision: How It Works and How It is Changing
One of the fundamental responsibilities of county government is to administer the property tax system. The county board of revision hears complaints about property valuations and can adjust the value based on evidence presented to it. In each county, the president of the board of commissioners serves on the board of revision along with the auditor and treasurer, or their designees. Speakers will review BOR rules, procedures, and recent case law, and will discuss how the enactment of House Bill 126 earlier this year will affect the system.

Tony Bornhorst, Shelby County Commissioner
Oral Presentation Only

David Graham, Greene County Auditor
Presentation

Dennis DeCamillo, Athens County Deputy Auditor
Oral Presentation Only

Update on Wind and Solar (SB 52)
Senate Bill 52 created new authority for counties to control the siting process for utility-scale wind and solar power generation facilities. This session will provide an update on the Ohio Power Siting Board’s implementation of SB 52 procedures and how the Board is partnering with counties.

Jenifer French, Chair, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
Presentation

Prevention and Recovery Strategies in Ohio’s Continuum of Care
With investments in mental health and addiction services over the past several years, Ohio’s continuum of care is top of mind across the state. Experts will provide an overview of the continuum of care landscape in Ohio with a focus on prevention and recovery supports.

Tom Gregoire, MSW, PhD, Dean Emeritus, Associate Professor, The Ohio State University College of Social Work
Presentation

Kaitie Hart, Director of Operations, Prevention, Planning and Evaluation, Ashtabula County Mental Health & Recovery Services Board
Presentation

Stefanie Robinson, Executive Director, Hope Recovery Community; Community Coordinator, Recovery Support Services at OhioGuidestone; PRSS - Supervisor
Presentation

Essentials for Successful Grant Writing
Experts at the county and state levels will discuss grant writing dos and don’ts and tips for successful planning and preparation

Stacie Massey, Senior Financial Manager, Ohio Grants Partnership, Ohio Office of Budget and Management
Presentation

Jamie Beier Grant, Director, Economic Development Planning, Montrose Group
Presentation

Rob Grant, Washington County Grants Program Manager
Presentation

Retirement Readiness
Presented by Empower, our deferred compensation program, Ohio County Employees Retirement Plan (OCERP) administrators. Topics covered will include plan benefits for you and your employees as you plan for retirement, the new participant experience website demo, and a Retirement Readiness Review role play.

Jennifer Jo Brown, Manager, Participant Engagement Government Markets, Empower
Joint Presentation with Joel Smith

Joel Smith, Retirement Plan Advisor, Empower

Other Materials:

Opening General Session
Jessica Jennings, NACo Legislative Director, Transportation and Rural Action Caucus
Presentation

Express Idea Exchange, Youth Detention Table
Tony Miller, Superintendent of the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center & President of the Juvenile Detention Director's Association
Presentation

2022 Winter Conference Sponsors

 

None at this time.