By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Patty Harrelson has gone from camp counselor, to cop, to helping kids cope with life.
Growing up in Berlin Heights, Ohio, Harrelson learned the value of service from her parents. And now, as new executive director of the Children’s Resource Center in Bowling Green, Harrelson is putting that belief to work for kids of Wood County.
“I think every decision we make needs to be something that makes life better for our families,” she said. “I think we owe our kids a lot. If we don’t take care of our kids, then what do we have?”
Harrelson realizes the weight of responsibility on CRC – and now on her.
“Anytime you work with a population of people who are hurting, it’s difficult work,” she said. “You’re making decisions about kids you barely know.”
But Harrelson has spent her life working with kids and families, in one form or another.
She began work at a 4-H camp on Kelley’s Island, then got a degree in criminal justice at Bowling Green State University. She returned home to serve as a police office in Berlin Heights.
“It was small town America,” she said of the community she policed.
Harrelson then moved to juvenile court services in Erie County, but realized she needed more than a criminal justice education to do the job. So she went to Case Western to earn a master’s degree in social work. She got involved in the Center for Public Policy, where she met people in the child welfare profession.
From there, Harrelson started her own training and consultation business, where she trained social workers. Then her career path took her to Guernsey County Children’s Services as deputy director, then Lucas County Children’s Services as manager of policies and improvement, and then Richland County Children’s Services as executive director.
But the chance to head up CRC, one of very few child-focused mental health services in Ohio, was intriguing to Harrelson.
“This is an interesting challenge,” she said of leading CRC and its just under 100 employees. “I’ve always believed in service.”
Rather than working directly with kids, here Harrelson will give staff what they need to help children and their families.
“I enjoy helping people who help kids, to be able to do their jobs better,” she said.
“We touch the lives of thousands of kids in the community,” Harrelson said of CRC.
Harrelson faces some challenges as she takes over at CRC – the first being funding.
“I’m all for saving money, but there are places it seems silly,” she said.
There are expenses, like for a new roof, and uncertainty about Medicaid management. And there are continuing efforts to make sure staff members are paid well enough to keep them.
“We have a staff of really caring people,” she said.
Harrelson said she is pleased with CRC’s relationship with others in the community – like Wood County Department of Job and Family Services, Wood County Juvenile Court and Juvenile Detention, BGSU, and school districts where CRC has therapists.
This is a community that cares about its kids, she said.
“I have never been in a community where the mental health provider has such a great relationship with our schools,” she said. “This is a very proactive community.”
Harrelson plans to use the relationships she has built in her past to further help CRC to grow.
“I may not know the answers, but I can find it,” she said. “I think relationships are incredibly important.”
And she plans to approach this job with the same qualities her parents instilled in her as a child.
“I just believe in being accountable, taking responsibility for your actions,” she said.
“Mistakes are opportunities to learn,” she said. “Things go wrong, then you get in a room together and fix them. I believe CRC is in a great position. I believe we have the ability to grow.”
