Section 5103.03 | Rules for adequate and competent management of institutions or associations.
(A) The director of job and family services shall adopt rules as necessary for the adequate and competent management of institutions or associations. The director shall ensure that foster care home study rules adopted under this section align any home study content, time period, and process with any home study content, time period, and process required by rules adopted under section 3107.033 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) Except for facilities under the control of the department of youth services, places of detention for children established and maintained pursuant to sections 2152.41 to 2152.44 of the Revised Code, and child day-care centers subject to Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code, the department of job and family services every two years shall pass upon the fitness of every institution and association that receives, or desires to receive and care for children, or places children in private homes.
(2) When the department of job and family services is satisfied as to the care given such children, and that the requirements of the statutes and rules covering the management of such institutions and associations are being complied with, it shall issue to the institution or association a certificate to that effect. A certificate is valid for two years, unless sooner revoked by the department. When determining whether an institution or association meets a particular requirement for certification, the department may consider the institution or association to have met the requirement if the institution or association shows to the department's satisfaction that it has met a comparable requirement to be accredited by a nationally recognized accreditation organization.
(3) The department may issue a temporary certificate valid for less than one year authorizing an institution or association to operate until minimum requirements have been met.
(4) An institution or association that knowingly makes a false statement that is included as a part of certification under this section is guilty of the offense of falsification under section 2921.13 of the Revised Code and the department shall not certify that institution or association.
(5) The department shall not issue a certificate to a prospective foster home or prospective specialized foster home pursuant to this section if the prospective foster home or prospective specialized foster home operates as a type A family day-care home pursuant to Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code. The department shall not issue a certificate to a prospective specialized foster home if the prospective specialized foster home operates a type B family day-care home pursuant to Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code.
(C) The department may revoke a certificate if it finds that the institution or association is in violation of law or rule. No juvenile court shall commit a child to an association or institution that is required to be certified under this section if its certificate has been revoked or, if after revocation, the date of reissue is less than fifteen months prior to the proposed commitment.
(D) Every two years, on a date specified by the department, each institution or association desiring certification or recertification shall submit to the department a report showing its condition, management, competency to care adequately for the children who have been or may be committed to it or to whom it provides care or services, the system of visitation it employs for children placed in private homes, and other information the department requires.
(E) The department shall, not less than once each year, send a list of certified institutions and associations to each juvenile court and certified association or institution.
(F) No person shall receive children or receive or solicit money on behalf of such an institution or association not so certified or whose certificate has been revoked.
(G)(1) The director may delegate by rule any duties imposed on it by this section to inspect and approve family foster homes and specialized foster homes to public children services agencies, private child placing agencies, or private noncustodial agencies.
(2) The director shall adopt rules that require a foster caregiver or other individual certified to operate a foster home under this section to notify the recommending agency that the foster caregiver or other individual is licensed to operate a type B family day-care home under Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code.
(H) If the director of job and family services determines that an institution or association that cares for children is operating without a certificate, the director may petition the court of common pleas in the county in which the institution or association is located for an order enjoining its operation. The court shall grant injunctive relief upon a showing that the institution or association is operating without a certificate.
(I) If both of the following are the case, the director of job and family services may petition the court of common pleas of any county in which an institution or association that holds a certificate under this section operates for an order, and the court may issue an order, preventing the institution or association from receiving additional children into its care or an order removing children from its care:
(1) The department has evidence that the life, health, or safety of one or more children in the care of the institution or association is at imminent risk.
(2) The department has issued a proposed adjudication order pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to deny renewal of or revoke the certificate of the institution or association.
Available Versions of this Section
- January 1, 2014 – Senate Bill 316 - 129th General Assembly [ View January 1, 2014 Version ]
- January 22, 2021 – Amended by House Bill 8 - 133rd General Assembly [ View January 22, 2021 Version ]
- October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly [ View October 3, 2023 Version ]
- January 1, 2025 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly [ View January 1, 2025 Version ]