Thousands of children and youth who have been served by Ohio's child protection system have been successful because they built relationships and communities that allowed them to do wonderful things with their lives. 

Many have shown leadership and contributed to their communities in meaningful ways. These are the youth the Leaders of Tomorrow Awards seek to honor. 

The Leaders of Tomorrow award is open to youth ages 15 to 18 years old (in school or recent graduates) who currently have or previously had children services involvement, or youth who have reached the age of majority and have previous children services involvement.

PCSAO recognizes families who have succeeded in overcoming challenges and persevered to create a loving, stable home for their own children or those placed in their care. This includes birth families who have successfully stayed together or those who have had their children reunified. It also includes kinship, foster, or adoptive families who have voluntarily opened their homes to provide temporary or permanent care to children who needed them. Some families have been particularly skilled in helping children identify strengths and reach their fullest potential. 

Other families have demonstrated extraordinary efforts in the task of shared parenting with birth parents. Their accomplishments and hard work are testimony to the unique value of each and every family, and they deserve recognition as Family of the Year. 

Caseworker of the Year: This award is presented to a frontline caseworker employed by a public children services agency.

Supervisor of the Year: This award is presented to a frontline supervisor employed by a public children services agency.

Support Advocate of the Year: This award is presented to an individual who may not work on the frontlines but whose work is critical to child and family outcomes such as a children services attorney, paralegal, QA specialist, eligibility specialist, trainer, or manager.

Support Staff of the Year: This award is presented to case aides and clerical staff whose support for frontline workers involves interaction with families and youth.