How Warren Local Serves Healthcare to 2,100 Students Without Referrals
In rural Ohio, 42% of families live below the poverty line, transportation is a luxury many can’t afford, and healthcare access feels impossible. But one small school district found a way to bring comprehensive care directly to students—without waiting for referrals or red tape.
Meet Ann Skufca, Director of Student and Parent Engagement at Warren Local School District in Vincent, Ohio. In this inspiring episode, Ann shares how her team transformed student wellness by removing barriers to healthcare access and creating a culture where asking for help isn’t just acceptable—it’s expected.
What You’ll Learn
Discover how Warren Local partnered with healthcare providers to deliver services on-site, eliminated transportation barriers that kept families from critical appointments, and built a comprehensive support system that meets students where they are. You’ll hear practical strategies for identifying struggling students, training staff to respond with compassion rather than judgment, and creating sustainable solutions in under-resourced communities.
Key Takeaways
- Remove barriers, not responsibility: On-site healthcare services eliminate transportation challenges and increase access for families in rural communities
- Care first, compliance second: Approaching student support from a caring perspective opens doors that bureaucracy closes
- Build a pay-it-forward culture: When families receive help, they become advocates who share resources with neighbors facing similar struggles
- Transportation is transformational: Sometimes the single greatest impact comes from solving the simplest logistical challenge
- Every decision starts with students: Systems work when every stakeholder remembers that everything they do is ultimately for the kids
Notable Quote
“Other families are out there, and the best thing that you can do is always ask for help. Think of it as a pay-it-forward avenue. You’re getting this help, and the next time somebody is struggling, you pay that same information forward to them.” – Ann Skufca
Ready to reimagine student support in your district? Listen now to hear how Warren Local is proving that resourcefulness, compassion, and community partnership can overcome even the biggest obstacles to student wellness.
Subscribe for more stories from educators transforming K-12 healthcare access and student outcomes.
FULL PODCAST Transcript
Lighthouse Therapy (00:00.926)
Hello everybody and welcome to the brighter together podcast. My name is Janet Courtney and my special guest today is Anne Skufka. Anne is the director of student and parent engagement at Warren Local School District and that’s in Vincent, Ohio. Anne, welcome to the show.
Ann Skufca (00:17.953)
Thank you, Janet, for having me.
Lighthouse Therapy (00:20.848)
So Ann, tell us a little bit about your journey to becoming the Director of Student and Parent Engagement and just a little bit about Warren Local School District.
Ann Skufca (00:31.437)
So I took over this brand new program four years ago at Warren. They created it to help all of our 2100 student and families here in the Vincent, area and surrounding small communities that make up Warren and the main purpose of my role here at Warren.
is to offer several resources in our community to our families that are struggling. And in our community, we have 42 % of our students that are needing free and reduced lunches. And so for those families that don’t have the capability, it’s always tough to try and…
get located one specific source to go to. And four years ago, Warren said, we need something like that. And with my background in finding resources and working with the state and students, they contacted me and I was happy to come on over to Ohio to help join them and help that student population.
Lighthouse Therapy (01:30.91)
Mm-hmm.
Lighthouse Therapy (01:54.714)
Awesome. So Warren is is that where is Warren?
Ann Skufca (01:58.954)
Warren is in southeast Ohio. It’s right on the border going into West Virginia. So right on the Ohio River.
Lighthouse Therapy (02:09.269)
Gotcha, gotcha, but not over by Cincinnati Southwest. So you’re over on the other side of the state.
Ann Skufca (02:13.19)
No, no. This another city that is located near there is Marietta, Athens. So we’re right in between those two.
Lighthouse Therapy (02:22.492)
Okay. okay. Gotcha. Okay. I lived in Ohio for a while. My husband was actually born and raised in Ohio, but he was born in little tiny town called Rockford, Ohio near Salina. So I know a little bit of Ohio we lived in and lived in Cincinnati. We lived in Dayton to my daughter was born in Cincinnati and my sons were born in Dayton. So but I don’t know that side of the state nearly as well as the west side of the state. So okay.
Ann Skufca (02:50.016)
Yeah, being a small rural community, it’s very, very small.
Lighthouse Therapy (02:55.666)
So how did this program come about? Like, what did they, is it grant or no, go ahead.
Ann Skufca (02:58.931)
Well, we just had, well, it first started out as a two-year grant, and then they had to try and work that way into the budget. But the main thing is that it came about because there was so much of a need in this area, especially with mental health and other types of resources. This area is a big McKinney-Vento.
Lighthouse Therapy (03:06.301)
Okay.
Lighthouse Therapy (03:17.51)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Skufca (03:28.587)
population where you have, you know, families that are doubled up, students living with grandparents as caretakers. So there was that need. you know, when you work with a lot of the students just right across the river, you know, why not be able to help over in that other state as well?
Lighthouse Therapy (03:55.987)
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. Yeah, 42%. That’s, yeah, it’s a lot of poverty. Yeah, it’s a lot. you know, kids can’t come to school and learn if they’re not, if they haven’t met all of their other basic needs, right? So what do you see the most of?
Ann Skufca (04:03.762)
It’s a lot.
Ann Skufca (04:18.676)
So I see a lot of parents that need assistance, not just financial, but transportation. There’s over 70 % of our student body, K through 12, that take the bus daily to school. And if they need to go to the doctors, there’s no source out here.
as far as like a cab service to pick up those families and take them to the doctors if the parents don’t have a vehicle or a working vehicle for that matter. you know, working with our community resources, you know, they didn’t see a need to have taxis, like a taxi service over here. But, you know, trying to
Tell them, come over, see what these families have because with a rural community, you have kids that are driving like a half hour to school from our buses just to get there at school. you know, it’s, there’s a need, but you know, trying to tell them, come on over. You’re going to service so many other people, but
Again, in this area, we have a hospital that is 25 minutes away. And that’s going one way and then it’s another 30 minutes another way. So there’s nothing really in this rural town. We always have to go other places to try and help our families. But the best thing. we have 2100 students, but the best thing that we are doing now and.
Lighthouse Therapy (05:55.664)
wow.
Lighthouse Therapy (06:08.98)
And how many students? Oh, so no, go ahead. Go ahead. I’m 2100. Okay.
Ann Skufca (06:17.266)
we’re getting a clinic here at the school. So we’re going to have a school-based clinic starting up on March 9th to try and help eliminate all this extra stuff for our students and trying to keep them in school. So the clinic will have a nurse practitioner as well as we’re working with our dental and vision.
So those kids that need to have those annual visits can get those done, but are not going to have that much out of seat time because it’s located here on our campus. So that’s a good thing looking forward.
Lighthouse Therapy (06:57.748)
Gotcha. Yeah, that is a good thing. And is it just gonna serve the kids or is it gonna serve the whole population?
Ann Skufca (07:03.697)
No, it’s going to be able to serve the whole entire community as well as the faculty and staff that is at Warren too.
Lighthouse Therapy (07:12.04)
Wow, they’re gonna be busy really fast. Yeah, really fast, really fast. Well, so the poverty that’s there, you said McKinney-Vento, what is McKinney-Vento? Is that like an employer or I don’t know that.
Ann Skufca (07:14.704)
Yes.
Ann Skufca (07:28.009)
So McKinney Vento is a state funded program here in Ohio and it is for anybody that is homeless or doubled up.
Lighthouse Therapy (07:34.918)
Okay, gotcha. Okay.
Lighthouse Therapy (07:40.782)
okay. I’m gonna ask because I was like, I was feeling kind of, I don’t know what that is. I think I need to ask, so.
Ann Skufca (07:47.754)
Yep, so McKinney-Vento, has resources in itself, but there are certain qualifications that relate to McKinney-Vento. And so if that’s any student that is not living with their biological parent or guardian, because we also have a lot of families that are single moms or single dads.
Lighthouse Therapy (07:55.112)
Okay.
Lighthouse Therapy (08:09.768)
Okay.
Ann Skufca (08:17.673)
And those resources help them as well to waive student fees, be able to help them. If they’re in high school and they’re a McKinney-Vento student, can go ahead and get a, when they’re ready, get their driver’s license and that, and it’s not gonna cost them anything. So there’s several perks as well as the free and reduced lunches as well.
Lighthouse Therapy (08:47.048)
Gotcha. Okay, that helps. That helps me to understand it a little bit. So what industry do you guys have in Warren?
Ann Skufca (08:53.904)
as far as
Lighthouse Therapy (08:56.5)
Well, if you’ve got 42 % poverty, was there like a factory that went out or is it just, I mean,
Ann Skufca (09:05.415)
No, it was mainly farmland and that and it’s still a lot of farm, but several schools, we had tiny little school houses and that and then they consolidated into one large campus. But many either go and work over at a factory, which is in a city next to us in Belpre. And it’s called Solvay, others travel.
Lighthouse Therapy (09:09.779)
Okay.
Lighthouse Therapy (09:21.683)
Okay.
Ann Skufca (09:35.304)
30 minutes to go and work at the hospitals or even further. So, you know, it’s definitely spread out.
Lighthouse Therapy (09:44.51)
So the school is probably, yeah, the school is probably one of your biggest employers in the area, right?
Ann Skufca (09:53.328)
Yep, and it’s centrally located. The one thing that in this area of Vincent, there is no pharmacy. So we have to, you know, the students have to travel either over to Marietta or Belpré to try and go and fill prescriptions too if they are needing it.
Lighthouse Therapy (10:02.936)
my.
Lighthouse Therapy (10:12.51)
I’ve never understood why hospitals don’t have a pharmacy. You know, you go, my son just had surgery on Tuesday and it’s Thursday. He’s doing really well. He actually was here for a little bit. He’s an adult, but he’s not married. So, know, mom, I’m mom. I’m always going to be mom, right? And so I went with him to the surgery and then my husband ran to the pharmacy afterwards to get his medication. They gave him one pain pill before he left.
but then you have to wait for the pharmacy to pick it up. And I’ve never understood that. Why don’t they just like, you know, have the medication there for you so that you can just go, you know, just, don’t know. To me, it just seems very upside down and backwards. Yeah, yeah. And it’s like, and the last thing you want to do, especially if you’re a single person all by yourself and you’ve had a major procedure done, first of all, you shouldn’t be driving, but.
Ann Skufca (10:53.658)
It’s always funny like that.
Lighthouse Therapy (11:09.352)
go and get your pain medicine. I don’t know, I just did. It’s totally off topic, but it’s the same thing you’re talking about. It’s like, hello, why is that the way things are? I don’t know.
Ann Skufca (11:16.423)
Yep.
Ann Skufca (11:23.375)
Yeah, and that’s why the school-based clinic is definitely going to help.
Lighthouse Therapy (11:24.564)
Crazy.
Lighthouse Therapy (11:28.05)
Yeah, and you guys are going to be able to have prescriptions there as well.
Ann Skufca (11:31.739)
they’ll be able to go ahead and call them into a pharmacy and have the pharmacy actually deliver them to the school. If it’s something stronger, then the parent actually has to go and pick that up themselves.
Lighthouse Therapy (11:37.798)
Okay. Deliver. Nice.
Lighthouse Therapy (11:48.323)
yeah, they’ve got all kinds of different classifications for drugs and yeah, I get it now. Having had it, having had a child on concert, I totally get it. So it’s like, my gosh, class three drug. It’s a class three drug. my goodness. Anyway, I don’t know. I’m kind of like, it’s interesting. It’s just, you know, it’s, it’s the other thing that, you know, schools, because we’re, you guys are, you guys are doing so much with social services and
Ann Skufca (11:50.864)
Yeah.
Ann Skufca (12:04.1)
Thank
Lighthouse Therapy (12:17.732)
there’s a cost for that, right? And how did the school once the grant ended, how did they manage the funds to be? mean, obviously, it’s critical and it’s needed. And you guys, know, obviously, your superintendent is forward thinking because he’s doing this, right? And finding the funds. But where what? How are you guys managing that? Do you know?
Ann Skufca (12:40.059)
So with that, there was a lot of planning both by our treasurer for the school as well as our superintendent. And the main thing is that it’s based off of the levy. Wow. So we have the school levy that helped supported this role. last year, the levy was on the ballot.
Lighthouse Therapy (12:49.268)
Mm-hmm.
Lighthouse Therapy (12:57.154)
okay.
Ann Skufca (13:08.513)
and it passed by six votes. So it was a very critical thing and we wanted to make sure that we got all the information out to the voters on this is actually what the dollars and cents add up to. So it helped by those six people actually voting and paying attention to the numbers. But again,
Lighthouse Therapy (13:11.441)
wow, six votes.
Ann Skufca (13:36.979)
everything that we do is always for the kids.
Lighthouse Therapy (13:39.859)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So how did you, I know you said originally you, when we, when we talked even before we were on, tell me a little bit about your journey because it sounds like it was really interesting. You had a heart for education, but you ended up not in college, not going that way. So just give us a little bit of that.
Ann Skufca (14:02.126)
Yeah, so when I started college, I wanted to be a elementary teacher. I grew up with an educator for a parent and it was like, great, you can always have summers off. You can do this or that and enjoy it. But the main thing is that I wanted to try and make a difference. So I was like, OK, what what can I do? And because the school that I went to, you had to have
you know, certain classes in the certain core fields for requirements for graduation. And every class that I took, I just, I fell in love with it. I could see different avenues that I could utilize myself. And so I couldn’t really declare a major just yet because I love learning everything. And so it gets time to where I actually have to declare a major and
Lighthouse Therapy (14:53.214)
Mm-hmm.
Ann Skufca (15:00.102)
I went one way because I had more classes in it and even after graduation, I was like, nope, I want to try and get a master’s degree and continue learning other ways. So ended up doing that and it wasn’t until I had an opportunity to work in social work, where really made an impact on everything else that I’ve learned.
through college and my early adult life that it was like, this is it. This is where it all comes together where you can make the most impact. And just from that experience, I think I was able to do a lot for the students here at Warren, as well as the families and making sure that, you know, one, they’re not alone. You know, other families are
Lighthouse Therapy (15:30.036)
Mm.
Ann Skufca (15:59.777)
are out there and the best thing that you can do is always ask for help. Even if you might feel no, you know, kind of reserved, no, I don’t want this stuff being out. I always tell anybody that’s looking for help. Just think that it’s a pay it forward type avenue. You where you’re getting this and then the next time if somebody is struggling,
Lighthouse Therapy (16:22.696)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ann Skufca (16:29.932)
pay that same information forward to them.
Lighthouse Therapy (16:32.594)
Yeah, yeah, that’s great. That’s great. It’s humbling. It’s humbling when you need help for sure. know, especially when you’ve been independent and been, you know, successful or whatever and then to have to need help. I’ve been there. I’ve been there. So I get it. So if you could, so let’s go back to the program just for a second. So you have this program, you’ve got it going, you’re doing amazing things.
Ann Skufca (16:36.5)
Yep.
Ann Skufca (16:47.842)
Yeah.
Lighthouse Therapy (17:00.966)
So how do, what have you guys done for like the educators, the teachers, the support staff to help them? I’m assuming there’s referrals that are made. How does that whole process, like how did the kids get funneled in and how do you, what kind of infrastructure did you have to put in place?
Ann Skufca (17:22.564)
So the first thing that we did was we actually worked with our therapists in the Belpré area and that is Hopewell Health Services. So we partnered with them and we’re like, instead of having all of our kids always go to you guys in Belpré and that come on into the school.
because that’s where you’re going to do the most help. And you’ll be able to see them in a different environment than what the parents are seeing. So that was our first thing. teachers, they make a referral. And with having our counselors here on site, it helps them get a right now type evaluation of
Lighthouse Therapy (18:03.145)
Right.
Ann Skufca (18:20.406)
what’s Johnny or Katie really experiencing.
And with that, you know, it helps create a plan of what they need to go ahead and talk with the mom. You know, they could have had a pass away in the family or, know, they just didn’t sleep well the night before or mom and dad are having some issues and it gives them more support to go ahead and be able to talk to.
So we started that. The other thing that we did was after those conversations, if more things did come up, phone calls were made to the parents of, hey, we heard that you are having some trouble getting food. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? And at times some parents were hesitant.
But again, you have to approach it from a more of a caring aspect of, know, we want to make sure that you guys are getting everything that you can and it’s okay for asking for help. But there are resources out there and it would be free to you. So we did a lot with that and that was the main starting point of that. So the teachers did the referral to us and then
and then we took it from there. The other thing that we have offered are trainings for the teachers, especially the McKinney Vento or our mental health trainings. One good thing that we started, been my second year here, it was mental health awareness day. So we took our community-based members and resources
Lighthouse Therapy (20:00.191)
now.
Ann Skufca (20:20.547)
brought them into our school and students were able to pick four areas that they were struggling with. And we got those resources and were able to give them hands-on information right then and there. And then with all the success that we had from the review of the students, we took that same feedback down to the middle school level because we started seeing an increase of
mental health concerns down there. And so we did that for two years in a row. And now we’re doing it, trading it off. One year’s at the high school and the other year is gonna be at the middle school just because with everything that the resources are having to deal with themselves as far as their own schedule.
Lighthouse Therapy (20:54.387)
you
Ann Skufca (21:18.338)
It’s kind of tough to do a full day for twice in the year. So it seems like it’s a little bit better for them.
Lighthouse Therapy (21:24.584)
Gotcha. yeah.
Ann Skufca (21:31.394)
but the kids love it.
Lighthouse Therapy (21:34.111)
Wow, that’s great. It sounds like you guys are doing so many things for the kids to help them and the families and the community and my goodness, it’s the need is high, but you guys are definitely rising up to meet that need and it’s so great. So if there was one thing and that you could just in your job, the hardest thing, whatever it is, what is that one thing if you could like just go, not money.
We know everybody needs more money, right? Obviously your whole community needs more money. Goodness gracious. But if you could just fix one thing and never have to worry about it again, what would that one thing be? Just one thing. What comes to mind?
Ann Skufca (22:16.225)
I would proudly say transportation.
the transportation because some of these events just doesn’t happen, you know, before school or during school. A lot of it happens after school and parents just don’t have transportation. And, you know, if I can go ahead and get our people on board at these community meetings to
Lighthouse Therapy (22:21.234)
Mm. Yeah.
Ann Skufca (22:49.905)
make their way out here, you know, that should help. Because again, everything’s either in the evenings.
Lighthouse Therapy (22:57.854)
So are you talking to like.
Hmm. So are you talking to like Uber or things like that or taxi companies or who are you talking to?
Ann Skufca (23:05.558)
Well, there’s a taxi company that is out in Marietta and they do their driving for a discounted rate. it’s like Uber, but it’s less cost for the person that needs it. And that would be absolutely the best result.
to this area because there’s such a need, especially out in the smaller communities.
Lighthouse Therapy (23:49.333)
Gotcha. So it’s hard to imagine not having transportation, having had a car or something, some way to get around. I think there was one time where I was taking the bus for a little bit, which was kind of stinky, but I had the bus, had the bus, but just not having any and having, you’d have to walk, right? They have to walk everywhere then.
Ann Skufca (24:06.537)
Yeah.
Ann Skufca (24:09.982)
Yeah, main thing is the school bus transportation. I mean, we don’t have any city buses out here. And it’s mainly that for the transportation for the kids if they don’t have their own vehicle.
Lighthouse Therapy (24:29.022)
So what happens if a child gets sick at school and mom and dad don’t have any way to pick them up? Do they just have to stay at school until?
Ann Skufca (24:37.441)
Sometimes that happens. Other times we do have a school van that we can take them back. But it’s tough with that because of the schedule and who can actually take them and is the parent actually gonna be there or not? So we have.
Lighthouse Therapy (25:05.108)
Yeah, you can’t leave a six-year-old at home, right? You can’t take them home just because they’re sick if mom and dad aren’t there. Yeah, no, no. my goodness. yeah. These are the things that, you know, I really hope that, you know, the message that gets out from something like this is like, understand that schools deal with this. You know, schools are dealing…
Ann Skufca (25:07.36)
No, nope, cannot do that.
Lighthouse Therapy (25:32.157)
with these kinds of situations every single day, you know, and it’s not, it’s not just educating our kids. It’s taking care, making sure that their, that their emotional needs are met and their physical needs are met because their parents are not. And, and not, and not necessarily because the parents don’t want to, but sometimes the parents can’t. And it’s, it’s heartbreaking. It’s absolutely heartbreaking when you see that and
Ann Skufca (25:35.882)
Hello.
Ann Skufca (25:55.208)
Right.
Bye, bananas.
Lighthouse Therapy (26:00.473)
And every school has got their own challenges, but boy, this is a big one. I’m just humbled by the fact that you guys have worked so hard and are doing such an amazing job in your community to take care of your community. And the fact that the levy passed by six vote to me, that’s an act of God just going, nope, that needs to happen. know, they’re the prompting six extra people to go out and vote, right? Cause I know that those kinds of votes
Ann Skufca (26:05.375)
Okay.
Ann Skufca (26:19.003)
Yeah.
Lighthouse Therapy (26:29.778)
Those kinds of elections don’t get a huge turnout. It’s not like a presidential election. So grateful for you guys that it worked out. How long is the levy for?
Ann Skufca (26:35.208)
Right, right.
Ann Skufca (26:40.576)
I think it’s renewed for five years. It’s either five or 10 years. I’m not entirely sure on that one.
Lighthouse Therapy (26:47.474)
Nice, nice. OK, well, and thank you so much for your time. Where do people go if they want to learn a little bit more about this student and parent engagement? If they have questions for you, I’m assuming you guys have a website.
Ann Skufca (27:02.941)
Yes, they would just have to go to warrenlocal.org and it would be underneath the family resource tab.
Lighthouse Therapy (27:15.38)
Well, I appreciate your heart. I appreciate what you’re doing for your community. Keep up the good work. You know, it’s obviously the impact that you’re making on these students lives and these families lives is something that just is not measurable. It really isn’t. So and you know that you know that I’m sure but it is it is it’s just
Ann Skufca (27:35.007)
Yeah, the main thing that we try to do is make every day the best that we can for each student. So, and I think we’re definitely on the right way to do that.
Lighthouse Therapy (27:50.644)
Absolutely, absolutely. Well, thanks again for being on brighter together, because obviously you are making things brighter together for your kids. that is no small feat.
Ann Skufca (28:04.464)
No. Well thank you, Janet, for having me.
Lighthouse Therapy (28:08.437)
Thank you. Absolutely.
