Ohio Program Excels
The positive spirit and efficiency with which the Ohio Judicial Family Network (OJFN) is reaching out to help new judges' families is an inspiration to judicial families all across the country.
The statewide OJFN Steering Committee depends upon the organizational skills of Ohio Supreme Court staffer Ruth Newcomer to pull people together in a nonpartisan educational program for partners of news judges. The recently elected judges come together in Columbus Monday through Thursday and are joined by their partners Tuesday evening and Wednesday. Programs are held in November/December and March.
The night before the Spouses' Orientation, new judges and their partners gather with their mentors and spouses for a reception joined by New Judge Orientation faculty members and OJFN Steering Committee members. While the OJFN agenda changes each year, the following are the types of important judicial family issues that are discussed:
- Myers-Briggs® Personality Type Inventory
- Security Strategies Away from the Courthouse--telephones, security profile, calendars and schedules, mail, cell phones, home lighting and street visibility, automobiles and garages
- Ethical Issues--Judicial Code of Conduct, political activity, fundraising, investments, public conversations
- Fiscal Considerations--payroll, insurance, pensions
- Supporting Children in Judicial Families--school security, classmates and teachers' questions about court cases, public reaction to judge's (parent's) sentencing decisions, children's campaign activity, pressure to perform, loss of privacy.