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Ohio Laws and Rules
Chapter 5153. COUNTY CHILDREN SERVICES
| (A) | As used in the Revised Code, "public children services agency" means an entity specified in section 5153.02 of the Revised Code that has assumed the powers and duties of the children services function prescribed by this chapter for a county. |
| (B) |
As used in this chapter:
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Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 09-21-2006.
Each county shall have a public children services agency. Any of the following may be the public children services agency:
| (A) | A county children services board; |
| (B) | A county department of job and family services; |
| (C) | A private or government entity designated under section 307.981 of the Revised Code. |
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
If a county children services board is a public children services agency for a county, the board of county commissioners shall appoint five members of the county children services board and for good cause may remove any member so appointed. Each of these members shall be appointed for the term of four years, but the board shall stagger their terms so that the terms of not more than two of the required members of the board expire in one year. The elected chairperson of any citizens advisory committee established under section 5153.05 of the Revised Code shall be an ex officio voting member of the county children services board. In addition to the five members it is required to appoint, a board of county commissioners of a county having less than one hundred thousand population according to the last federal census may appoint up to five or a board of county commissioners of a county having a population of one hundred thousand or more according to such census may appoint up to nine additional members of the county children services board. If these additional members are appointed, they shall be appointed for initial terms of one, two, three or four years as will maintain balance in the expiration dates of the members of the board. After the expiration of these original terms, these additional members shall be appointed for four-year terms. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
A county children services board appointed under section 5153.03 of the Revised Code shall elect one of its members as chairperson and another as secretary. The chairperson may appoint committees composed of board members and other persons interested in child care. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum, and the action of a majority of the members present shall constitute the action of the board. The board shall meet at least once a month and called or adjourned meetings may be held at any time, as the board determines. The board members shall serve without compensation, but they shall be entitled to their necessary expenses and shall be considered employees of the county under section 325.20 of the Revised Code. Failure of any member of the board to attend three consecutive regular meetings, unless for reasons beyond the member's control, or other manifest indifference to the purposes or work of the board, shall be cause for the member's removal from such board.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
If a county children services board appointed under section 5153.03 of the Revised Code is a public children services agency for a county, the board may appoint an advisory committee on children services. If an entity specified in division (B) or (C) of section 5153.02 of the Revised Code is a public children services agency for a county, the board of county commissioners may appoint an advisory committee on children services. If appointed, an advisory committee may do all of the following:
| (A) | Further cooperation between the public children services agency and other child-caring agencies in the county; |
| (B) | Carry out studies of the effectiveness and need for particular services to children in the county; |
| (C) | Advise the public children services agency on policies pertaining to the provision of services to children. |
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The county children services board may enter into a written contract with the board's executive director specifying terms and conditions of the executive director's employment. The executive director shall not be in the classified civil service. The period of the contract shall not exceed three years. Such a contract shall in no way abridge the right of the county children services board to terminate the employment of the executive director as an unclassified employee at will, but may specify terms and conditions for any such termination.
Effective Date: 09-05-2001.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The county children services board shall elect one of its members as chairman and another as secretary. The chairman may appoint committees composed of board members and other persons interested in child care. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum, and the action of a majority of the members present shall constitute the action of the board. The board shall meet at least once a month, and called or adjourned meetings may be held at any time, as the board determines. The board members shall serve without compensation, but they shall be entitled to their necessary expenses and shall be considered employees of the county under section 325.20 of the Revised Code. Failure of any member of the board to attend three consecutive regular meetings, unless for reasons beyond his control, or other manifest indifference to the purposes or work of the board, shall be cause for his removal from such board.
Amended by 112nd General Assembly, HB 523, eff. 01/09/1979
Each public children services agency shall designate an executive officer known as the "executive director," who shall not be in the classified civil service. The superintendent of the children's home, the county director of job and family services, or other individual may serve as the executive director.
The agency shall, from time to time, inquire into community conditions affecting the welfare of children and study the work of the agency and its relation to the work of other organizations whose functions are related to child welfare. The agency may, after consultation with the executive director, adopt rules of general application, not inconsistent with law or with the rules adopted by the director of job and family services.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The executive director shall administer the work of the public children services agency, subject to the rules of the agency. With the approval of the agency, the executive director shall appoint all other employees except the superintendent of any institution maintained by the agency. Such superintendent shall appoint all employees in any such institution.
Upon the advice of one or more reputable practicing physicians, the executive director may consent to such medical, dental, and surgical care, including surgery and the administration of anesthetics, inoculations, and immunizations, or other care as appears to be necessary for any child who is in the temporary or permanent custody of such agency. The executive director may also consent to the enlistment of a ward of such agency into the armed forces of the United States.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
| (A) |
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| (B) |
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| (C) |
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| (D) | The report of any criminal records check conducted by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code and pursuant to a request under division (A)(1) of this section is not a public record for the purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall not be made available to any person other than the applicant who is the subject of the criminal records check or the applicant's representative, the public children services agency requesting the criminal records check or its representative, and any court, hearing officer, or other necessary individual involved in a case dealing with the denial of employment to the applicant. |
| (E) | The director of job and family services shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section, including rules specifying circumstances under which a public children services agency may hire a person who has been convicted of an offense listed in division (B)(1) of this section but who meets standards in regard to rehabilitation set by the department. |
| (F) | Any person required by division (A)(1) of this section to request a criminal records check shall inform each person, at the time of the person's initial application for employment, that the person is required to provide a set of impressions of the person's fingerprints and that a criminal records check is required to be conducted and satisfactorily completed in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code if the person comes under final consideration for appointment or employment as a precondition to employment for that position. |
| (G) | As used in this section:
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Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 09-21-2006.
| (A) | A public
children services agency may hire as a caseworker only the following:
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| (B) | For employment to continue, a person described in division (A)(2), (3), or (4) of this section must obtain a job-related bachelor's degree not later than five years after the date employment with the agency commences. |
| (C) | This section applies only to persons hired on or after the effective date of this section and does not apply to a caseworker employed by a public children services agency before the effective date of this section who is hired by another public children services agency on or after that date. |
Effective Date: 10-05-2000.
| (A) |
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| (B) | Notwithstanding division (I)(1) of section
2151.421, section
5153.17, and any other section
of the Revised Code pertaining to confidentiality, before a public children
services agency employs an applicant, the executive director of the agency, or
the executive director's designee within the agency, shall review promptly any
information the agency determines to be relevant for the purpose of evaluating
the fitness of the applicant, including, but not limited to, the
following:
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| (C) | The information reviewed under division (B) of this section shall not include the name of the person or entity that made the report or participated in the making of the report of child abuse or neglect. |
| (D) | The director of job and family services shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section. |
Added by 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 49, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.
All employees of the public children services agency shall be in the classified civil service. The agency may establish compensation rates and vacation benefits for any of its employees. Insofar as practicable, all employees holding positions in the classified service, whose duties are transferred by this section to the agency, shall be continued, with like status, by the appointing authority before any other appointments are made. This chapter shall not affect the civil service status of any employee.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
| (A) | The board of county commissioners and the county children services board may agree to permit any employee of the department of job and family services also to perform duties for the county children services board, or to permit any employee of the county children services board also to perform duties for the department of job and family services. |
| (B) | An agreement made under division (A) of this section may require the board of county commissioners to pay a portion of the wages of any employee of the county children services board who also performs duties for the department of job and family services or require the county children services board to pay a portion of the wages of any employee of the department of job and family services who also performs duties for the county children services board. |
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
Each PCSA caseworker hired after January 1, 2007, shall complete at least one hundred two hours of in-service training during the first year of the caseworker's continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker, except that the executive director of the public children services agency may waive the training requirement for a school of social work graduate who participated in the university partnership program described in division (E) of section 5101.141 of the Revised Code. The training shall consist of courses in all of the following:
| (A) | Recognizing, accepting reports of, and preventing child abuse, neglect, and dependency; |
| (B) | Assessing child safety; |
| (C) | Assessing risks; |
| (D) | Interviewing persons; |
| (E) | Investigating cases; |
| (F) | Intervening; |
| (G) | Providing services to children and their families; |
| (H) | The importance of and need for accurate data; |
| (I) | Preparation for court; |
| (J) | Maintenance of case record information; |
| (K) | The legal duties of PCSA caseworkers to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of children and families from the initial time of contact during investigation through treatmentincluding instruction regarding parents' rights and the limitations that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution places upon caseworkers and their investigations; |
| (L) | Content on
other topics relevant to child abuse, neglect, and dependency, including
permanency strategies, concurrent planning, and adoption as an option for
unintended pregnancies. After a PCSA caseworker's first year of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker, the caseworker annually shall complete thirty-six hours of training in areas relevant to the caseworker's assigned duties. During the first two years of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker, each PCSA caseworker shall complete at least twelve hours of training in recognizing the signs of domestic violence and its relationship to child abuse as established in rules the director of job and family services shall adopt pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The twelve hours may be in addition to the training required during the caseworker's first year of employment or part of the training required during the second year of employment. |
Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 04-11-2005; 09-21-2006; 2008 HB214 05-14-2008; 2008 HB7 04-07-2009 .
Each PCSA caseworker supervisor shall complete at least sixty hours of in-service training during the first year of the supervisor's continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker supervisor. The training shall include courses in screening reports of child abuse, neglect, or dependency. After a PCSA caseworker supervisor's first year of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker supervisor, the supervisor annually shall complete thirty hours of training in areas relevant to the supervisor's assigned duties. During the first two years of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker supervisor, each PCSA caseworker supervisor shall complete at least twelve hours of training in recognizing the signs of domestic violence and its relationship to child abuse as established in rules the director of job and family services shall adopt pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The twelve hours may be in addition to the training required during the supervisor's first year of employment or part of the training required during the second year of employment.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006; 2008 HB214 05-14-2008 .
| (A) | The director of job and family services shall adopt rules as necessary to implement the training requirements of sections 5153.122 and 5153.123 of the Revised Code. |
| (B) | Notwithstanding sections 5103.33 to 5103.422 and sections 5153.122 to 5153.127 of the Revised Code, the department of job and family services may require additional training for PCSA caseworkers and PCSA caseworker supervisors as necessary to comply with federal requirements. |
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Each PCSA caseworker supervisor shall work with each PCSA caseworker the supervisor supervises to determine the caseworker's training needs in accordance with, and ensure the caseworker's compliance with, the training requirements of section 5153.122 of the Revised Code. Once every two years, each PCSA caseworker and the caseworker's supervisor shall jointly complete the caseworker's individual training needs assessment created under section 5103.37 of the Revised Code .
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
The executive director of each public children services agency or a person designated by the executive director shall work with each PCSA caseworker supervisor employed by the agency to determine the supervisor's training needs in accordance with, and ensure the supervisor's compliance with, the training requirements of section 5153.123 of the Revised Code. Once every two years, each PCSA caseworker supervisor and the executive director of the public children services agency employing the supervisor, or the person designated by the executive director, shall jointly complete the supervisor's individual training needs assessment created under section 5103.37 of the Revised Code .
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
The executive director of each public children services agency or a person designated by the executive director shall collect and maintain the data from individual training needs assessments completed under sections 5153.125 and 5153.126 of the Revised Code for each PCSA caseworker and PCSA caseworker supervisor employed by the agency. The executive director or designated person shall compile and forward the data collected from the completed assessments to the regional training center established under section 5103.42 of the Revised Code for the training region the agency is located in.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Before entering upon official duties, the executive director shall give a bond to the county in such sum as is fixed by the public children services agency, with sufficient surety, conditioned upon the faithful performance of official duties and the full and faithful accounting of all funds and properties of the agency or county coming into the executive director's hands. Before entering upon such duties, the executive director shall give a bond to the probate court, with sufficient surety, conditioned upon the full and faithful accounting of all trust funds which the executive director holds on behalf of wards. The amount of such bond shall be determined by the court and may be modified by the court, provided that the minimum amount of the bond shall be five thousand dollars.
The agency may require any other employee thereof, including the superintendent of the children's home, having custody or control of funds or property, to give bond to the county, in such sum as the board determines, with sufficient surety, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of such employee and the full and faithful accounting of any funds and properties coming into the employee's hands. The cost of such bonds shall be paid by the agency.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
A public children services agency may procure a policy or policies of insurance insuring employees of the agency, volunteers, foster caregivers associated with the agency, and, if a county children services board is the public children services agency, board members against liability arising from the performance of their official duties.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000.
The executive director shall prepare and submit an annual report to the public children services agency at the end of each calendar year and shall file copies of such report with the department of job and family services, the board of county commissioners, and the juvenile court. The executive director shall submit the inspection reports required under section 5153.16 of the Revised Code and such other reports as are required by law, by the rules of the director of job and family services, or by the board of county commissioners to specified governmental bodies and officers and shall provide reports to the public, when so authorized.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The powers and duties enumerated in sections 5153.16 to 5153.19 of the Revised Code, with respect to the care of children, needing or likely to need public care or services, shall be vested in a single agency of county government, namely, a county department of job and family services or a county children services board.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
| (A) | Except as provided in section
2151.422 of the Revised Code, in
accordance with rules adopted under section
5153.166 of the Revised Code,
and on behalf of children in the county whom the public children services
agency considers to be in need of public care or protective services, the
public children services agency shall do all of the following:
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| (B) | The public children services agency shall use the
system implemented pursuant to division (A)(16) of this section in connection
with an investigation undertaken pursuant to division
(G)(1)
of section 2151.421 of the Revised Code to
assess both of the following:
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| (C) |
Except as provided in section
2151.422 of the Revised Code, in
accordance with rules of the director of job and family services, and on behalf
of children in the county whom the public children services agency considers to
be in need of public care or protective services, the public children services
agency may do the following:
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Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 493, §1, eff. 3/14/2017.
Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.
Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.180, HB 279, §1, eff. 3/22/2013.
Amended by 128th General Assemblych.180, SB 79, §1, eff. 10/6/2009.
Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 09-29-2005; 09-21-2006
| (A) | As used in this section, "qualified nonrelative" means a nonrelative adult whom a child or the current custodial caretaker of a child identifies as having a familiar and longstanding relationship or bond with the child or the child's family that will ensure the child's social and cultural ties. |
| (B) | Care provided by the public children services agency under division (A)(4) of section 5153.16 of the Revised Code shall be provided by the agency, by its own means or through other available resources, in the child's own home, in the home of a relative or qualified nonrelative, or in a certified foster home, any other home approved by the court, receiving home, school, hospital, convalescent home, or other public or private institution within or outside the county or state. |
Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.180, HB 279, §1, eff. 3/22/2013.
Effective Date: 01-01-2001 .
Pursuant to an agreement entered into under division (A)(9) of section 5153.16 of the Revised Code respecting the operation, acquisition, or maintenance of a children's home, training school, or other institution for the care of children maintained by a municipal corporation or other political subdivision, the public children services agency may acquire, operate, and maintain such an institution. The agency may enter into an agreement with a municipal corporation, a board of education, and the board of county commissioners, or with any one of them, to provide for the maintenance and operation of children's training schools. The agreement may provide for the contribution of funds by the municipal corporation, board of education, or board of county commissioners, in such proportions and amounts as the agreement states. The agreement also may provide for the operation and supervision of the training school by any one of them, or by the joint action of two or more of them, provided that municipal corporations, boards of education, and boards of county commissioners may expend moneys from their general funds for maintaining and operating the joint children's training school.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
| (A) | As used in this section, "adoptive parent" means, as the context requires, a prospective adoptive parent or an adoptive parent. |
| (B) |
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| (C) |
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| (D) | No payment shall be made under division (B) or (C) of this section on behalf of any person eighteen years of age or older beyond the end of the school year during which the person attains the age of eighteen or on behalf of a mentally or physically handicapped person twenty-one years of age or older. |
| (E) | The director of job and family services shall
adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that are needed
to implement this section. The rules shall establish all of the following:
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| (F) | The state adoption special services subsidy program ceases to exist on July 1, 2004, except that, subject to the findings of the annual redetermination process established under division (E) of this section and the child's individual need for services, a public children services agency may continue to provide state adoption special services subsidy payments on behalf of a child for whom payments were being made prior to July 1, 2004. |
| (G) | No public children services agency shall, pursuant
to either section
2151.353 or
5103.15 of the Revised Code, place
or maintain a child with special needs who is in the permanent custody of an
institution or association certified by the department of job and family
services under section
5103.03 of the Revised Code in a
setting other than with a person seeking to adopt the child, unless the agency
has determined and redetermined at intervals of not more than six months the
impossibility of adoption by a person who wishes to adopt children, and is
approved by an agency so empowered under Chapter 5103. of the RevisedCode, or by a person who wishes to adopt a child with
special needs as defined in rules adopted under this section, and who is
approved by an agency so empowered under Chapter 5103. of the Revised
Code, including the impossibility of entering into a payment agreement
with such a person. The agency so maintaining such a child shall report its
reasons for doing so to the department of job and family services. The department may take any action permitted under section 5101.24 of the Revised Code for an agency's failure to determine, redetermine, and report on a child's status. |
Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.
Effective Date: 07-01-2004 .
Effective Date: 06-30-1997.
If a family is encountering an emergency that could lead, or has led, to removal of a child from the family's home pursuant to Chapter 2151. of the Revised Code, the public children services agency shall determine whether the child could remain safely with, or be safely returned to, the family if the emergency were alleviated by providing benefits and services under the prevention, retention, and contingency program established under Chapter 5108. of the Revised Code. If it is determined that the child could remain safely with, or be safely returned to, the family, the agency, with the cooperation of the child's family, shall determine the amount of benefits and services necessary to prevent the removal of the child from the home or to permit the child's return to the home and may provide the benefits and services pursuant to a plan of cooperation entered into under section 307.983 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 09-05-2001.
In addition to other rules specifically authorized by the Revised Code, the director of job and family services may adopt rules governing public children services agencies' performance of their family services duties, including the family services duties that public children services agencies have under sections 5153.16 to 5153.19 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
The public children services agency shall prepare and keep written records of investigations of families, children, and foster homes, and of the care, training, and treatment afforded children, and shall prepare and keep such other records as are required by the department of job and family services. Such records shall be confidential, but, except as provided by division (B) of section 3107.17 of the Revised Code, shall be open to inspection by the agency, the director of job and family services, and the director of the county department of job and family services, and by other persons upon the written permission of the executive director.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 09-21-2006.
| (A) | On receipt
by a public children services agency of a request for the release of
information about a child under eighteen years of age who was a resident of the
county served by the agency at the time of death and whose death may have been
caused by abuse, neglect, or other criminal conduct, the director of the agency
immediately shall confer with the prosecuting attorney of that county. After
the executive director confers with the prosecuting attorney, the following
apply:
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| (B) | A public children services agency director who releases information in accordance with this section in good faith shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability for injury, death, or loss to person or property incurred or imposed as a result of provision of the information. |
Effective Date: 10-05-2000.
| (A) |
Notwithstanding sections
2151.421,
3701.243,
5153.17, and any other section of
the Revised Code pertaining to confidentiality and unless precluded by section
5153.173 of the Revised Code, the
director shall disclose the following information concerning a deceased child
in accordance with section
5153.171 of the Revised Code:
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| (B) | No person may release, pursuant to a request made under this section concerning a deceased child, the name of any person or entity that made a report or participated in making a report of child abuse or neglect of which the child was the subject; the names of the parents or siblings of the child; the contents of any psychological, psychiatric, therapeutic, clinical, or medical reports or evaluations regarding the child; witness statements; police or other investigative reports; or any other information other than the information that may be released in accordance with this section. |
Effective Date: 10-05-2000.
The director shall not disclose any information pursuant to section 5153.172 of the Revised Code if a judge of the common pleas court of the county the deceased child resided in at the time of death determines, on motion of the public children services agency, that disclosing the information would not be in the best interest of a sibling of the deceased child or another child residing in the household the child resided in at the time of death.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000.
| (A) | Notwithstanding division
(I)(1)
of section 2151.421, section
5153.17, and any other section
of the Revised Code pertaining to confidentiality, when a public children
services agency has determined that child abuse or neglect occurred and that
abuse or neglect involves a person who has applied for licensure as a type A
family day-care home or type B family day-care home, the agency shall promptly
provide to the department of job and family services any information the agency
determines to be relevant for the purpose of evaluating the fitness of the
person, including, but not limited to, both of the following:
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| (B) | The agency shall not include in the information provided to the department under division (A) of this section the name of the person or entity that made the report or participated in the making of the report of child abuse or neglect. |
| (C) | Upon provision of information under division (A)
of this section, the agency shall notify the department of both of the
following:
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Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 493, §1, eff. 3/14/2017.
Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.128, SB 316, §120.01, eff. 1/1/2014.
Effective Date: 05-18-2005; 03-30-2007
As used in this section, "license" has the same meaning as in section 3319.31 of the Revised Code.
| (A) | Notwithstanding division
(I)(1)
of section 2151.421, section
5153.17, or any other section of
the Revised Code pertaining to confidentiality, the director of a public
children services agency shall promptly provide to the superintendent of public
instruction information regarding the agency's investigation of a report of
child abuse or neglect made pursuant to section
2151.421 of the Revised Code
involving a person who holds a license issued by the state board of education
where the agency has determined that child abuse or neglect occurred and that
abuse or neglect is related to the person's duties and responsibilities under
the license. The information provided by the director shall include the
following:
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| (B) | Upon receipt of a written request from the superintendent of public instruction for the additional information described in division (C) of this section, the director shall determine if the prosecuting attorney of the county served by the public children services agency intends to prosecute the subject of the report based on the allegations contained in the report. If the prosecuting attorney intends to prosecute the subject of the report, the prosecuting attorney shall determine the information described in division (C) of this section that may be released, if any, and shall provide the director with written authorization to release the information so determined. The director shall provide the superintendent of public instruction with any information described in division (C) of this section that the prosecuting attorney determines may be released, but in no case shall the director provide any information that the prosecuting attorney determines shall not be released. If the prosecuting attorney does not intend to prosecute the subject of the report, the prosecuting attorney shall notify the director of that fact and the director shall provide all of the information described in division (C) of this section to the superintendent of public instruction. |
| (C) | In
accordance with division (B) of this section, the director shall provide
information to the superintendent of public instruction regarding the public
children services agency's investigation of the report described in division
(A) of this section, including, but not limited to, the following:
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| (D) |
Upon provision of any information to the superintendent of public instruction
under this section, the director shall notify the superintendent of both of the
following:
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| (E) |
The director shall include documentation of the information provided to the
superintendent of public instruction under this section in the investigative
record maintained by the public children services agency. The documentation
shall include the following:
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| (F) | No director of a public children services agency shall knowingly fail to comply with division (A) or (C) of this section. |
| (G) | A director of a public children services agency who provides information to the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with this section in good faith shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability that otherwise might be incurred or imposed for injury, death, or loss to person or property as a result of the provision of that information. |
| (H) | Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code, the provisions of this section prevail over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement or contract for employment entered into after March 30, 2007. |
Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 493, §1, eff. 3/14/2017.
Effective Date: 03-30-2007; 2008 HB428 09-12-2008 .
| (A) | The public children services agency shall have the capacity possessed by natural persons to institute proceedings in any court. |
| (B) | When appointed by the probate court exercising jurisdiction in adoption proceedings, the executive director may act as next friend of any child and perform the duties of such next friend. |
| (C) | When appointed by the probate court, in
lieu of a guardian, in accordance with section
2111.05 of the Revised Code:
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Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The public children services agency shall, before entering into any agreement obligating the agency with respect to the care of any child, determine the ability of the child, parent, guardian, or other person to pay for the cost of such care, having due regard for other dependents. Such determination shall, if accepted by the parent, guardian, or other person, be made a part of such agreement. If the executive director has been appointed in lieu of a guardian and is acting as trustee of the estate of the child, such determination shall be subject to the approval of the probate court.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
| (A) |
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| (B) |
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Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 09-21-2006.
The board of county commissioners may establish a children's home upon the recommendation of the public children services agency and subject to certification by the department of job and family services under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code and the requirements of sections 5103.05 and 5103.051 of the Revised Code.
Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 483, §101.01, eff. 9/15/2014.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000 .
If there is no children's home in the county or if the facilities for institutional care are inadequate, the public children services agency may, subject to the approval of the department of job and family services and the board of county commissioners, enter into an agreement with the public children services agency of, or a certified organization located in, another county, or with the board of trustees of any district or semipublic children's home, or with any agency or institution outside the state for the furnishing of institutional care to children of the county.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The superintendent of the county children's home shall control, manage, operate, and have general charge of such home, subject to the rules, standards, and orders of the public children services agency.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The children to be admitted for care in a county children's home, the period during which such children shall be cared for therein, and the removal and transfer of children therefrom shall be determined by the executive secretary, subject to the agreement, surrender, or commitment respecting any particular child.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
The superintendent of the county children's home may provide and carry on, in connection with a children's home, such industrial, agricultural, and other pursuits for the children in such home as are deemed expedient by the public children services agency. Any products of such pursuits not needed to maintain the home may be sold, and all receipts from such sales shall be paid into the county treasury.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
At the request of the superintendent of the county children's home, the public children services agency may issue orders upon the county auditor for the payment to such superintendent of a sum, not exceeding two hundred dollars at any one time, to be designated the fund for the payment of emergency accounts, and to be used and accounted for by the superintendent. The amounts so paid in any year, after the first full year of operation, shall not exceed twenty per cent of the total expenditures for such children's home during the preceding year.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
A public children services agency operating a children's home or other institution is subject to sections 5103.03 and 5103.04 of the Revised Code respecting certification by the department of job and family services.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
Boards of township trustees, the superintendent of any county home, and other officers and employees of any county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivisions of the state shall make a report to the public children services agency respecting any child in the county coming to their attention, who is deemed to be in need of public care.
No child shall be kept or maintained in any county home, except with the approval of the public children services agency of such county.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The board of county commissioners of any county having a county children's home, may, upon the recommendation of the public children services agency and with the approval of the department of job and family services, abandon the use of such home and proceed to sell or lease the site, building, furniture, and equipment of such home in the manner most advantageous to the county, or it may use the home for other necessary and proper purposes. The net proceeds of any such sale or lease shall be paid into the county treasury.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The public children services agency may accept and receive bequests, donations, and gifts of funds or property, real or personal, for child care and services. The facilities or services to be established or maintained through any such gift shall be subject to the approval of the department of job and family services.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
All personal property, records, files, and other documents and papers belonging to or in the possession of any agency or institution, the powers and duties of which are transferred by this chapter to the public children services agency, the proceeds of all tax levies in process of collection, the unexpended balances of all current appropriations for the use of such agencies and institutions, and the custody of all wards of such agencies and institutions, shall be deemed transferred to the agency.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
Any corporation, organized under the laws of this state for the purpose of establishing, conducting, and maintaining a child welfare institution or agency, which is unable, for any reason, to conduct and maintain such institution or agency, and which has not, for a period of three consecutive years, conducted or maintained a place or establishment for the care of children, and which has in its hands funds or properties acquired by it for the purpose of establishing, conducting, and maintaining such institution or agency, may, subject to the approval of the department of job and family services, and subject to the terms of any deed, will, or other instrument pursuant to which such funds or properties were acquired, transfer such funds or properties to the public children services agency, to be used for the purposes for which such funds or property were acquired. The transfer of such funds or properties to the agency shall be a full discharge of the obligation or liability of such corporation and its trustees with respect to the funds and properties so transferred.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
Funds in the hands of the public children services agency, donated or transferred to such agency under sections 5153.31 and 5153.32 of the Revised Code, and which are not immediately needed, may be invested in bonds of the United States or of any political subdivision of the state.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The public children services agency may acquire such property and equipment and purchase such supplies and services as are necessary for the proper conduct of its work, including the ownership, operation, and maintenance of motor vehicles. Neither the director nor an employee of the agency shall sell or supply any article to the agency, or to any institution maintained by such agency, or be personally interested in any contract made by the agency.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
The boards of county commissioners shall levy taxes and make appropriations sufficient to enable the public children services agency to perform its functions and duties under this chapter. If the board of county commissioners levies a tax for children services and the children services functions are transferred from a county children services board to the department of job and family services, or from the department of job and family services to a county children services board, the levy shall continue in effect for the period for which it was approved by the electors for the use by the public children services agency that provides children services pursuant to the transfer.
In addition to making the usual appropriations, there may be allowed annually to the executive director an amount not to exceed one-half the executive director's official salary to provide for necessary expenses which are incurred by the executive director or the executive director's staff in the performance of their official duties. Upon the order of the executive director, the county auditor shall draw a warrant on the county treasurer payable to the executive director or such other person as the order designates, for such amount as the order requires, not exceeding the amount provided for in this section, and to be paid out of the general fund of the county. The bond of the executive director provided for by section 5153.13 of the Revised Code shall at all times be in sufficient amount to cover the additional appropriations provided for by this section.
The executive director, annually, before the first Monday of January, shall file with the auditor a detailed and itemized statement, verified by the executive director, as to the manner in which the fund has been expended during the current year, and if any part of such fund remains in the executive director's hands unexpended, forthwith shall pay that amount into the county treasury.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The boards of county commissioners of two or more adjoining counties, not to exceed four, may, upon the recommendation of the public children services agencies of such counties, and subject to the approval of the department of job and family services form themselves into a joint board, and proceed to organize a district for the establishment and support of a children's home, by using a site and buildings already established in one such county, or by providing for the purchase of a site and the erection of necessary buildings thereon.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The board of county commissioners of any county having a children's home, and the joint boards of county commissioners of district children's homes, shall make annual assessments of taxes sufficient to support and defray all necessary expenses of such home.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
When any person donates or bequeaths the person's real or personal estate, or any part thereof, to the use and benefit of a district children's home, the board of trustees of the home may accept and use such donation or bequest as they deem for the best interests of the institution, and consistent with the conditions of such bequest. The facilities or services to be established or maintained through any such gift shall be subject to the approval of the department of job and family services.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
Immediately upon the organization of the joint board of county commissioners as provided by section 5153.36 of the Revised Code, or as soon thereafter as practicable, such joint board of county commissioners shall appoint a board of five trustees, which shall hold office and perform its duties until the first annual meeting after the choice of an established site and buildings or after the selection and purchase of a building site, at which time such joint board of county commissioners shall appoint a board of five trustees, one of whom shall hold office for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, one for the term of three years, one for the term of four years, and one for the term of five years. Annually thereafter, the joint board of county commissioners shall appoint one trustee, who shall hold his office for the term of five years. The annual meeting of the board of trustees shall be held on the first Tuesday of May in each year.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
A majority of the board of trustees appointed under section 5153.39 of the Revised Code constitutes a quorum. Board meetings shall be held quarterly. The executive secretary of each of the counties of the district organized pursuant to section 5153.36 of the Revised Code shall attend such meetings, or shall designate a member of his staff to do so. The members of the board shall receive no compensation for their services, except their actual traveling expenses, which, when properly certified, shall be allowed and paid.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
The board of trustees of a district children's home shall appoint the superintendent thereof. Before entering upon his duties such superintendent shall give a bond to the board, in such sum as it fixes, with sufficient surety, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties and the full and faithful accounting of the funds and properties coming into his hands.
The superintendent shall appoint all employees, who, except for the superintendent, shall be in the classified civil service.
The superintendent, under the supervision and subject to the rules and regulations of the board, shall control, manage, operate, and have general charge of the home, and shall have the custody of its property, files, and records.
The children to be admitted for care in such home, the period during which they shall be cared for in the home, and the removal and transfer of children from such home shall be determined by the executive secretaries of the respective counties, subject to the terms of the agreement, surrender, or commitment respecting any particular child.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
District children's homes shall be established, operated, maintained, and managed in the same manner so far as applicable as county children's homes and shall be subject to the requirements of sections 5103.05 and 5103.051 of the Revised Code.
Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 483, §101.01, eff. 9/15/2014.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957 .
When the board of trustees appointed under section 5153.39 of the Revised Code does not choose an established institution in one of the counties of the district it may select a suitable site for the erection of a district children's home. Such site must be easily accessible, and when, in the judgment of the board, it is equally conducive to health, economy in purchasing or in building, and to the general interest of the home and inmates, such site shall be as near as practicable to the geographical center of the district. When only two counties form such district the site shall be as near as practicable to the dividing line between such counties.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
Each county in the district, organized under section 5153.36 of the Revised Code, shall be entitled to one trustee, and in districts composed of but two counties, each county shall be entitled to not less than two trustees. The county in which a district children's home is located shall have not less than two trustees, who, in the interim period between the regular meetings of the board of trustees, shall act as an executive committee in the discharge of all business pertaining to the home.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
The joint board of county commissioners organized under section 5153.36 of the Revised Code may remove any trustee appointed under section 5153.39 of the Revised Code, but no such removal shall be made on account of the religious or political opinion of such trustee. The trustee appointed to fill any vacancy shall hold his office for the unexpired term of his predecessor.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
In the interim, between the selection and purchase of a site, and the erection and occupancy of the district children's home, the joint board of county commissioners provided by section 5153.36 of the Revised Code may delegate to board of trustees appointed under section 5153.39 of the Revised Code, such powers and duties as, in its judgment, will be of general interest or aid to the institution. Such joint board of county commissioners may appropriate a trustees' fund, to be expended by the board of trustees in payment of such contracts, purchases, or other expenses necessary to the wants or requirements of the home, which are not otherwise provided for. The board of trustees shall make a complete settlement with the joint board of county commissioners once each six months, or quarterly if required, and shall make a full report of the condition of the home and inmates, as provided by section 5153.14 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
The choice of an established site and buildings, or the purchase of a site, stock, implements, and general farm equipment, should there be a farm, the erection of buildings, and the completion and furnishing of the district children's home for occupancy, shall be in the hands of the joint board of county commissioners organized under section 5153.36 of the Revised Code. Such joint board of county commissioners may delegate all or a portion of these duties to the board of trustees provided for under section 5153.39 of the Revised Code, under such restrictions and regulations as the joint board of county commissioners imposes.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
When an established site and buildings are used for a district children's home the joint board of county commissioners organized under section 5153.36 of the Revised Code shall cause the value of such site and buildings to be properly appraised. This appraisal value, or in case of the purchase of a site, the purchase price and the cost of all betterments and additions thereto, shall be paid by the counties comprising the district, in proportion to the taxable property of each county, as shown by its tax duplicate. The current expense of maintaining the home and the cost of ordinary repairs thereto shall be paid by each such county in proportion to the number of children from such county who are maintained in the home during the year.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
The board of county commissioners of any county within a children's home district may, upon the recommendation of the public children services agency, and subject to the approval of the department of job and family services, withdraw from such district and dispose of its interest in such home by selling or leasing its right, title, and interest in the site, buildings, furniture, and equipment to any counties in the district, at such price and on such terms as are agreed upon among the boards of county commissioners of the counties concerned. Section 307.10 of the Revised Code does not apply to this section. The net proceeds of any such sale or lease shall be paid into the county treasury of the withdrawing county.
Members of the board of trustees of a district children's home who are residents of a county withdrawing from such district are deemed to have resigned their positions upon completion of the withdrawal procedure provided by this section. Vacancies thus created shall be filled according to sections 5153.39 and 5153.45 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The county auditors of the several counties composing a children's home district, shall meet at the district children's home, not less than once in six months, to adjust accounts and to transact such other duties in connection with the institution as pertain to the business of their office.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
Members of the board of county commissioners who meet by appointment to consider the organization of a district children's home, shall, upon presentation of properly certified accounts, be paid their necessary expenses upon a warrant drawn by the county auditor of their county.
Effective Date: 09-14-1957.
The board of county commissioners of any county which has no county children's home may aid an incorporated children's home or other unincorporated society, whose object is the care, aid, and education of neglected or destitute children, by contributing toward the purchase of land for such home or society, the erection of buildings by it, or of additions to existing buildings, or other improvements, to an amount not to exceed twenty-five hundred dollars in any one year.
The board of any such county may submit to the people of such county, under section 133.18 of the Revised Code, the question of whether bonds of such county shall be issued for the purposes of this section. If the people of such county approve the issue of bonds, the board may issue the bonds under Chapter 133. of the Revised Code, as if they were being issued for the construction of a county children's home owned by the county, and may use the proceeds of such bond issue for the purposes of and without the restriction as to amount imposed by this section.
The board may contribute an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars in any one year for the purpose of keeping such property in repair. If such children's home ceases to exist, so that the property so purchased ceases to be used for the purpose of a children's home by the corporation, such county shall have a lien upon the property for the amount of money contributed for its purchase, and if such corporation fails to maintain, manage, and control such home so as to subserve the purpose of a children's home for which it was incorporated, the board may enforce such lien or, if it prefers may, upon approval of the department of job and family services, first being obtained, organize such home into a county children's home. The title to such property, where the county has contributed the whole amount of the purchase money, shall vest in and be the property of such county.
Effective Date: 07-01-2000.
The public children services agency may purchase, operate, and maintain buses to be used for educational purposes.
The operation and maintenance of such buses shall be according to the law relating to school buses.
Effective Date: 10-01-1997.
Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 09-03-2004; 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000; 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000; 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000; 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000; 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000; 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000; 09-21-2006.
After the training program steering committee is appointed under section 5153.67 of the Revised Code, the director of job and family services shall call the committee to meet for the purpose of adopting bylaws governing the operation of the committee. The bylaws shall include provisions addressing the committee's governing structure, subcommittees, frequency of meetings, and amendment of the bylaws. The committee shall adopt the bylaws, pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, by majority vote of all members of the committee. The committee shall adopt the bylaws no later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date of this section.
Effective Date: 10-05-2000.
The training program steering committee shall monitor and evaluate the Ohio child welfare training program to ensure the following:
| (A) | That the Ohio child welfare training program is a competency-based training system that satisfies the training requirements for public children services agency caseworkers and supervisors under section 5153.122 of the Revised Code; |
| (B) | That the Ohio child welfare training program provides preplacement or continuing training for foster caregivers as required by section 5153.60 of the Revised Code that meets the requirements preplacement training programs and continuing training programs must meet pursuant to section 5103.038 of the Revised Code to obtain approval by the department of job and family services, except that the Ohio child welfare training program is not required to obtain department approval. |
Effective Date: 06-26-2003.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Effective Date: 09-21-2006.
Whoever violates division (F) of section 5153.176 of the Revised Code shall be punished as follows:
| (A) | Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. |
| (B) | The person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree if, during the period between the violation and the conviction of or plea of guilty by the person for that violation, the license holder who is the subject of the investigation about which the person fails to provide information inflicts on any child attending a school district, educational service center, public or nonpublic school, or county board of developmental disabilities where the license holder works any physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that constitutes abuse or neglect of the child. |
Amended by 128th General Assemblych.128, SB 79, §1, eff. 10/6/2009.
Effective Date: 2008 HB428 09-12-2008