Barbara A. Turpin, LSW
Columbus, OH
Barbara has worked in the fields of juvenile justice, foster care, adoption, and kinship care for a combined 44 years, before retiring. She was employed at the Ohio Department of Youth Services as a Licensed Social Worker providing counseling treatment to incarcerated youth. She served as a program policy staff person at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services working on child welfare funding issues and family preservation initiatives, culminating as the statewide Kinship Care Project Coordinator. In that capacity she coordinated the development of Ohio’s first statewide Kinship Care program. Barbara then worked at the Children Defense Fund – Ohio as Policy Director focusing on child and family policies. She also served as the Director of Ohio’s KIDS COUNT Data project and released a series of Data Books and policy briefs on the well-being of children and their families.
Barbara’s commitment as an advocate for children and families also includes serving on the Board of the Ohio Grandparent and Kinship Care Coalition, the Statewide advocacy organization focused on supporting families caring for their relative children. She is currently the Co-Secretary and has served in a number of other positions.