Laura Schaeffer & Becca Lachman

Lisa Seitz & Lizzi Montanti

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/fan_mail/new] What does it take to earn the trust of a teenager who has been let down by the very systems meant to protect them?  In Episode 5 of The Anna Jinja Show's Athens County Children Services season, host Anna Jinja sits down with Lisa Seitz — a Life Skills Caseworker at ACCS with over twelve years of experience supporting youth in foster care ages 14 to 21. Lisa's work is both practical and profound: she helps young people navigate college enrollment, secure housing, obtain state IDs, manage savings, and develop the independent living skills they'll need to thrive as adults.  But the foundation of all of it, Lisa says, is trust — and trust is built in the smallest moments. In car rides where neither person has to make eye contact. In following through on a promise written in a calendar before the next visit. In explaining what an organ donor card means before a teenager is asked to make that decision at the DMV counter.  "They've been let down a lot in their lives," Lisa says simply. "I just follow through with the simplest things."  The episode opens with something rare and beautiful: an original poem titled "I Can Attest," written by the show's assistant producer Lizzi Montanti after a summer interning at ACCS. Written from the perspective of a caseworker, the poem captures what so often goes unseen in this work — the quiet, persistent act of bearing witness to a child's story.  For anyone who works in child welfare, education, or family services — or anyone who has ever been the one caring adult in a young person's life — this episode is for you.  Lisa also has a message for anyone considering foster care: "You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be rich. We're just looking for people willing to open their homes and their hearts."   Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/support]

Dan Fuchs & Riley James

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/fan_mail/new] What does it look like to truly meet people where they are — not where we think they should be?  In Episode 4 of The Anna Jinja Show's Athens County Children Services season, host Anna Jinja speaks with Dan Fuchs, a school outreach worker with ACCS stationed at Amesville Elementary in the Federal Hocking School District. Dan's path is unconventional: after eight years in full-time pastoral ministry, he found a new calling in prevention-focused family services — and the transition, he says, has felt entirely consistent with who he's always been.  Dan speaks with rare honesty about the philosophy behind his work: that trust is built incrementally, that vulnerability is a gift, and that meeting a surface-level need — a gas card, a bag of groceries — is often the first step toward something much deeper.  He also shares a challenge worth sitting with: "What if I'm wrong?" — a question he believes could transform not just our personal relationships, but our cultural ones.  The episode also features a song by Riley James, an Ohio University musician and Brick City Records artist, whose song "Letting Go" weaves beautifully through the episode's themes of acceptance and identity.  Whether you work in child welfare, education, community development, or simply want to be a better neighbor — this conversation is for you. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/support]

Laura Schaeffer & Becca Lachman

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/fan_mail/new] "My darling, you aren't mine."   Those five words opened one of the most tender, honest, and hopeful conversations we've ever had on this show.  Episode 3 of our Athens County Children Services season features poet and foster-adoptive mom Becca Lachman and Athens County Children Services (ACCS) caseworker Laura Schaeffer.   They talk about:  💛 What it means to belong to someone — and to let go  💛 The poem Becca wrote in the middle of fostering a newborn  💛 Why Laura says the families she works with have the hard job — not her  💛 Why our community needs more people willing to open their homes   "If you want to know your community in a new light, to make connections you never would have before — fostering will do that." — Becca Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/support]

Stephanie Russell & Jillian Kay

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/fan_mail/new] What does it look like to offer sturdiness to someone navigating one of life's most complex systems?  That's the question at the heart of Episode 2 of The Anna Jinja Show's Athens County Children Services Season — and Stephanie Russell answers it beautifully. Stephanie is an independently licensed clinical mental health counselor (LPCC) and Treatment Foster Care Coordinator with the Southeastern Treatment Foster Care Network. A lifelong Athens County resident, she has built her career championing individuals and families in rural Appalachia through the intersecting challenges of mental health, child welfare, and substance dependence.  What sets Stephanie apart is her philosophy: that to serve others well, you must first fuel yourself — through solitude, self-reflection, and yes, occasionally running to the hills of Appalachia to recharge.  Alongside Stephanie, we hear from Jillian Kay, an Ohio University music production student and Athens singer-songwriter whose original song "Sometimes Blues" speaks directly to the courage it takes to face difficult emotions with honesty and grace.  This conversation is for anyone who works in service of others — and who sometimes wonders how to keep going. Stephanie and Jillian show us the way. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/support]

Otis Crockron & Bruce Dalzell

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/fan_mail/new] Something special is happening in Athens County — and it starts today.  The Anna Jinja Show is launching its first season ever, and we couldn't be more excited to share it with you. This season was made in partnership with Athens County Children Services (ACCS) — the agency quietly showing up every single day, often in the hardest moments, to keep children safe and families strong.  In this first episode of the season, host Anna Jinja sits down with: Otis Crockron — Executive Director of ACCS, who has called Athens County home since 1986 and brings both professional and personal passion to the work of protecting children  Bruce Dalzell — the patriarch of the Athens music scene, with 45+ years of original songwriting, who teamed up with poet Wendy McVicker to write an original song for this season  Lizzi Montanti — Assistant Producer and former ACCS intern, who bridges the worlds of art and advocacy in a way that will move you The song they created together? It will stop you in your tracks.  This episode is a love letter to every caseworker, foster family, kinship caregiver, and community member who shows up — quietly, faithfully — for the children of Appalachian Ohio. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2185315/support]