Otsego County Child Welfare Alliance - OCCWA

Otsego County Child Welfare Alliance - OCCWA We used to be Otsego County’s child abuse prevention council. Last, we also provide mandated child abuse reporter training to area mandated reporters.

We disbanded in Sept. 2025, but will maintain this page to provide community information and to find sponsors to take over our programming Our mission is to provide resources and supports to help families in Otsego County raise safe and healthy children. Through our community partners, we provide items and education such as portable cribs, crib sheets and wearable blankets and infant safe sleep ed

ucation to families who need a safe place for their infant to sleep, lice removal kits (including a laundry voucher) at area schools so that children can return to school in a timely manner after an outbreak, home safety supplies and first aid kits to prevent home accidents and to stop minor injuries from becoming more severe. We also provide infant car seats at the local hospital to families who deliver there and who do not have a car seat to be discharged from the hospital and who are unable to purchase one on their own. We also distribute books to elementary aged youth at community events to encourage family reading and support childhood literacy. We believe that by providing these necessities to families, it will ease financial burdens of families who are already financially limited and reduce stress. We also believe that providing these resources will prevent child maltreatment and neglect in the home. We also provide community resource cards that have contact information for various community organizations and are distributed through social service agencies that are useful for families who do not have smartphone access or an easy way to keep this contact information.

Over many years, OCCWA has distributed around 20 lice removal kits annually between area schools, MDHHS and the health d...
11/21/2025

Over many years, OCCWA has distributed around 20 lice removal kits annually between area schools, MDHHS and the health department. These kits are distributed to families in our community. We are looking for a community organization, service group, or other individual who would like to take on this project now that OCCWA has disbanded. If you have any interest or general questions, please contact Manda at occwa.chair at gmail dot com. 

** there are also several other programs that OCCWA provided that could use a sponsor, or someone to do as a service project, such as pack and plays and home safety supplies. These programs simply involve purchasing these items and providing to community partners, who will distribute them directly to families in need. Please contact us if you have any interest. **

OCCWA was excited to contribute to the Angel Tree program for the holiday season this year! We hope you all have a happy...
11/21/2025

OCCWA was excited to contribute to the Angel Tree program for the holiday season this year! We hope you all have a happy holiday season!

09/23/2025

After 42 years of serving Otsego County families and children, OCCWA is winding down operations by the end of this month. We feel grateful for the opportunity to have provided child abuse and neglect prevention resources in Otsego County. We would urge everyone to like and share the new STARS in Northern Michigan page. This is a new group that will be providing safety information and resources to families in northern Michigan.

https://www.facebook.com/STARSinNoMi

Spreading safety in Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Emmet, Luce, Mackinac, Montmorency, Otsego, and Presque Isle Counties through awareness, education and community events.

09/03/2025

Check with your local DHHS office in your county.

08/21/2025

BACKPACK DRIVE

Come and see us today at the Otsego Area Family fun fair! At Ga***rd middle school from 10 to 2. We will be distributing...
04/26/2025

Come and see us today at the Otsego Area Family fun fair! At Ga***rd middle school from 10 to 2. We will be distributing books, sleep sacks, and the first 60 families through the door will get a free mini first aid kit 

Just a reminder, if you are part of an organization that works with families in Otsego County and can think of a way th...
04/25/2025

Just a reminder, if you are part of an organization that works with families in Otsego County and can think of a way that OCCWA could help, please reach out to us. This week, we were able to help a family that participates in programs with one of our partner organizations, get a bike for their child. 

Visit our table with your baby (or as an expectant mother) at the Otsego Area Family Fun Fair on Saturday at Ga***rd mid...
04/22/2025

Visit our table with your baby (or as an expectant mother) at the Otsego Area Family Fun Fair on Saturday at Ga***rd middle school from 10-2 and receive a FREE Halo sleep sack—until supplies run out.

October is infant safe sleep awareness month!

Thanks to a partnership with the Munson foundation, OCCWA was able to donate infant sleep sacks to a number of organizations that work with children and families, including the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, the New Life Pregnancy Center, the foster care closet, and the Child Protection Council of Crawford/Roscommon county. We hope that distribution of these infant sleep sacks to families with infants will help them to exercise safe sleep practices! Remember that babies are safest sleeping alone, on their back, in a crib or pack and play with no blankets, stuffed animals, pillows, or loose items.

04/09/2025

Nation Guard just dropped off 200 hot and ready meals!! Please spread the word to everyone and anyone that is in need.

We are on our way to donate pull-ups, diapers, gas cards, and laundry vouchers to our area partners. we hope that provid...
04/09/2025

We are on our way to donate pull-ups, diapers, gas cards, and laundry vouchers to our area partners. we hope that providing these resources to families who have been impacted by the ice storm will make things a tiny bit easier as our community regains power and returns to our usual routines. 
ETA: these items are going to our partner organizations, who are distributing to families on their caseloads who have been affected by the storm.

Address

P. O. Box 948
Gaylord, MI
49734

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 2pm
Sunday 7am - 6pm

Telephone

+19893905456

Website

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