3,000 Good Things

Amanda is 15-years-old and she has seen more than most adults have. In this episode, she and her dad Kris sit down together for their first podcast to share what recovery, foster care, hurricanes, evictions, and a family friend's kitchen table have taught them. Kris talks about the peer support worker who took him by the arm, looked him in the eye, and told him the only way through was radical honesty. Amanda talks about writing in a journal that never judges her, what she wishes adults understood about how children actually experience the foster system, and the way she has watched her father change more than she has heard him talk about it.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Kris and Amanda gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

Jamie was 42, pregnant with her fifth child, newly married to Ben, and parenting four older kids from her first marriage. Then the call came about her one month old niece. In this episode, Jamie and Ben share what it took to say yes together, why they never regretted it even when the moment felt overwhelming, and how their older kids modeled love in a way that made kinship care feel natural. They talk about the car ride when they told their niece about her birth mother, her simple answer that she has two moms, and Ben's phrase for the support system every kinship family needs. Build your hive.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Jamie and Ben gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

When Laurel first met Fawn, she noticed that Fawn listened. Not at her, but with her. That single detail is what makes this systems disruptors episode land. Fawn Gadel, the director of Ohio Start, and Laurel Ridenour, its brand new Family Peer Mentor Technical Assistance Consultant, sit down to talk about what it took to build a state level position dedicated to peer work. They talk about livable wages, benefits, career ladders, and the difference between saying lived experience matters and putting it in the budget. Their message is simple. Systems change when someone makes a position, not just a speech.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Laurel and Fawn gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

A year after submitting a poem and painting to a national journal, Onita found herself keynoting a conference of hundreds of professionals. In part two of our conversation, she talks about saying yes despite the imposter syndrome, stepping into a classroom as a college professor, and the fictional daughter she wrote for Paul Lawrence Dunbar as a way to honor two writers who came before her. She closes on hope, two of her three children pursuing what they love, her new grandbaby, Skylah's recent gifted identification, and what she wants her family to carry when she is gone.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Onita gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

When Onita took in her granddaughter Skylah nearly two and a half years ago, they were two people who barely knew each other. What they have built since is not a rescue story. It is an adjustment story. In part one of this two-part conversation, Onita talks about the invisible grief that kinship caregivers carry, the decisions to chase and not chase the people we love, and how creativity became the language she and Skylah use to understand each other. They write poems together. They paint together. Their art was part of an exhibit at K-12 & Tejas back in May-June. This is what quiet, daily healing looks like.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Onita gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

Tammy and Frank thought they were about to adopt the two little girls they had raised since infancy. Tessa walked into court that same day to bring her granddaughters home. Both women were blindsided. Both were grieving. And what could have ended in silence became one of the most unlikely sisterhoods you will ever hear about.

In this episode, Tammy and Tessa share the story of a Bob Evans coffee meeting that changed everything, how the girls now have a mom, a mommy, and a mimi, and why they believe families and foster parents should be building relationships from day one.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Tammy and Tessa gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

When Kayden was 13, he stood outside a church and told his mom this would be the last time. Nine years later, he's a 23-year-old homeowner and mail carrier, and Jessica is a family peer mentor pouring everything she learned back into her community. In this honest conversation, the two share what it took to rebuild their relationship after years of addiction, prison, and living apart, including the grandma who held space for them both, the husband who refused to give up, and the daily work of hard conversations, healthy boundaries, and showing up again and again.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Jessica and Keyden gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

Teri was a young mom battling addiction. Haley was the daughter who never stopped believing in her. In this tender conversation with Ashley, the two share what it took to break the cycle, not just from substances, but from old patterns of silence, blame, and false hope. They talk honestly about the hard years, the power of boundaries, and the day-to-day work of learning to communicate as mother and adult daughter. Now, with a master's degree, a career helping others recover, and mother-daughter trips on the calendar, their story is proof that relationships can heal, not just people.

Learn more about the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and the work Mike & Ashley are doing at https://www.pcsao.org.

Teri and Haley gave us their full permission to share their story in this format.

Mike and Ashley are back for Season 3 of the 3,000 Good Things podcast! Get ready for another inspiring season of the GOOD things happening in Child Protection across Ohio.

This episode features Bonnie and Norm sharing their inspiring journey of recovery, breaking cycles, and building a blended family rooted in honesty, trust, and love. They discuss overcoming addiction, redefining identity, and creating a supportive community, illustrating that it's never too late to change and find joy.

Learn more about PACT here: https://pcsao.org/programs-events/pact/

Check out our 7 Guiding Principles here: https://pcsao.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/7-Guiding-Principles-10.30.25.pdf

#3000GoodThings #PACT #ChildProtection #Recovery

In this episode of 3,000 Good Things, Mike and Ashley are joined by Catrina, Amanda, and Ike three family ambassadors serving in Local Advisory Group in three cohort one counties. The group reflects on the power of using your voice, reflections from the PCSAO conference, and hopes and dreams for the future of child welfare.

Learn more about PACT here: ⁠⁠https://www.pcsao.org/programs-events/pact/⁠⁠ 

Read about the PACT Behavioral Research Project here: ⁠⁠https://www.pcsao.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PACTBehavioralResearchProject.pdf⁠⁠ 

Find Information about the 7 Guiding Principles of PACT here: ⁠⁠PACT7GuidingPrinciples.pdf (pcsao.org)⁠⁠  

#3000GoodThings #PACT #ChildWelfare