As such, getting regulations on the books before the 135th General Assembly formally expires in early January was a priority for Dayton-area Reps. Andrea White, R-Kettering, and Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp, who had elements of their House Bill 583 rolled into House Bill 315, a 400-page omnibus bill that was the final official action of the 135th General Assembly.
“Our No. 1 concern is for our children who are in need of a temporary loving, safe environment,” White said. “Ohio is taking steps to secure more family homes where foster children can be placed, but in the meantime, we have children who are being placed many miles and many counties away from where their parents or caregivers live because there is a shortage of places in their home communities.”
“Montgomery County has seen a substantial increase in group homes in our community, which creates its own set of challenges for our youth-serving organizations and community service providers,” Plummer said. “We are going to properly regulate theses homes to ensure the owners are properly trained and equipped to handle the various challenges children face. We have had numerous complaints and concerns regarding this situation, and we are going to demand accountability on behalf of our foster children.”
The legislation that passed sets up reporting requirements to the state when a child under the care of a group home receives emergency medical care or when law enforcement officers have investigative interactions with the foster child.
It also mandates that, when a delinquent child gets placed in a group home, the group home gets notification for how that child came to be adjudicated delinquent.
Agencies with custody over any foster child will also be required to perform a monthly review on the group home the child was placed in and reconsider that child’s placement if the group home isn’t up to snuff.
The bill also tells the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to divide the state into regions, determine the ideal number of group homes in each region, and establish incentives to help draw group homes into those regions, potentially cutting down on the over-saturation Montgomery County has experienced in recent years.
Other provisions aim to ensure that group homes meet local zoning requirements, support foster children’s education, and set up a study committee to evaluate the placement of delinquent children in group homes — a compromise to White and Plummer’s original idea of entirely separating delinquent and non-delinquent children.
White said more needs to be done.
“We want to ensure that providers running these homes and the on-site caregivers who support the foster children in their care are properly trained, responsive and accountable for delivering the level of wraparound services and supervision they are being entrusted to provide for some of our most vulnerable young lives,” White said.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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