State Representative, Susan Manchester, spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Lima Tuesday afternoon.
LIMA — Ohio State Representative Susan Manchester spoke about the needs of children at the Kiwanis Club meeting on Tuesday afternoon at Milano’s Cafe.
The Kiwanis Club consists of members throughout the community who focus on children and education. According to the website, its mission statement is as follows: Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. They have created opportunities for children to be curious, safe, and healthy regardless of the community in which they live.
Susan Manchester has served in the 84th District for two terms and will now be running unopposed for the new 78th District in the November election. Manchester also serves on the education, health and human services committee in the House.
“One of the first meetings that I had, as a new legislature in 2019, was with people in Shelby county who all dealt with the Child Welfare space,” said Manchester.
“From the Justice System to Children Services to other non-profit organizations. They all came together and said we have a real need in Shelby County to find homes. We don’t have residential or foster care for these children. I went back to Columbus and talked to some people about how we could address this issue. That is when I introduced House Bill 8 which deals with foster caregiver training standards. That bill became one of the priority pieces of legislation in the House of Representatives that year. It was something that would allow the state a little more flexibility in developing standards for foster caregivers.”
Manchester studied Psychology and Political Science at Ohio State University and completed an internship with Congressman Jim Jordan. Manchester also served in Washington D.C. for 5 years and later moved back to Ohio and worked at Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“I really believe my background in public service has prepared me well for this position,” said Manchester. “I had to work on legislation at the federal level and I learned that it is about building relationships and building coalitions. I think that has been a huge benefit and why I have been able to see so many bills of mine cross the finish line because I had that previous experience.”
