Section 5123.19 | Operation of residential facilities.

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• Effective: September 30, 2021
• Legislation: House Bill 110 - 134th General Assembly

(A) As used in sections 5123.19 to 5123.20 of the Revised Code:

(1) "Independent living arrangement" means an arrangement in which an individual with a developmental disability resides in an individualized setting chosen by the individual or the individual's guardian, which is not dedicated principally to the provision of residential services for individuals with developmental disabilities, and for which no financial support is received for rendering such service from any governmental agency by a provider of residential services.

(2) "Licensee" means the person or government agency that has applied for a license to operate a residential facility and to which the license was issued under this section.

(3) "Political subdivision" means a municipal corporation, county, or township.

(4) "Related party" has the same meaning as in section 5123.16 of the Revised Code except that "provider" as used in the definition of "related party" means a person or government entity that held or applied for a license to operate a residential facility, rather than a person or government entity certified to provide supported living.

(5)(a) Except as provided in division (A)(5)(b) of this section, "residential facility" means a home or facility, including an ICF/IID, in which an individual with a developmental disability resides.

(b) "Residential facility" does not mean any of the following:

(i) The home of a relative or legal guardian in which an individual with a developmental disability resides;

(ii) A respite care home certified under section 5126.05 of the Revised Code;

(iii) A county home or district home operated pursuant to Chapter 5155. of the Revised Code;

(iv) A dwelling in which the only residents with developmental disabilities are in independent living arrangements or are being provided supported living.

(B) Every person or government agency desiring to operate a residential facility shall apply for licensure of the facility to the director of developmental disabilities unless the residential facility is subject to section 3721.02, 5103.03, 5119.33, or division (B)(1)(b) of section 5119.34 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) Subject to section 5123.196 of the Revised Code, the director of developmental disabilities shall license the operation of residential facilities. An initial license shall be issued for a period that does not exceed one year, unless the director denies the license under division (D) of this section. A license shall be renewed for a period that does not exceed three years, unless the director refuses to renew the license under division (D) of this section. The director, when issuing or renewing a license, shall specify the period for which the license is being issued or renewed. A license remains valid for the length of the licensing period specified by the director, unless the license is terminated, revoked, or voluntarily surrendered.

(2) Notwithstanding sections 5123.043, 5123.196, and 5123.197 of the Revised Code and rules adopted under section 5123.04 of the Revised Code, the director shall issue a new license for a residential facility if the facility meets the following conditions:

(a) The residential facility will be certified as an ICF/IID;

(b) The building in which the residential facility will be operated was operated as a residential facility under a lease for not fewer than twenty years before the date of application for a new license;

(c) The former operator of the residential facility relocated the beds previously in the facility to another site that will be licensed as a residential facility;

(d) The residential facility will be located in Preble, Clermont, or Warren county;

(e) The residential facility will contain eight beds;

(f) The licensee will make a good faith effort to serve multi-system youth or adults with severe behavioral challenges at the residential facility or at one or more other residential facilities for which licenses are issued under division (C) of this section.

(3) The director shall issue not more than five licenses under division (C)(2) of this section.

(D) If it is determined that an applicant or licensee is not in compliance with a provision of this chapter that applies to residential facilities or the rules adopted under such a provision, the director may deny issuance of a license, refuse to renew a license, terminate a license, revoke a license, issue an order for the suspension of admissions to a facility, issue an order for the placement of a monitor at a facility, issue an order for the immediate removal of residents, or take any other action the director considers necessary consistent with the director's authority under this chapter regarding residential facilities. In the director's selection and administration of the sanction to be imposed, all of the following apply:

(1) The director may deny, refuse to renew, or revoke a license, if the director determines that the applicant or licensee has demonstrated a pattern of serious noncompliance or that a violation creates a substantial risk to the health and safety of residents of a residential facility.

(2) The director may terminate a license if more than twelve consecutive months have elapsed since the residential facility was last occupied by a resident or a notice required by division (J) of this section is not given.

(3) The director may issue an order for the suspension of admissions to a facility for any violation that may result in sanctions under division (D)(1) of this section and for any other violation specified in rules adopted under division (G)(2) of this section. If the suspension of admissions is imposed for a violation that may result in sanctions under division (D)(1) of this section, the director may impose the suspension before providing an opportunity for an adjudication under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The director shall lift an order for the suspension of admissions when the director determines that the violation that formed the basis for the order has been corrected.

(4) The director may order the placement of a monitor at a residential facility for any violation specified in rules adopted under division (G)(2) of this section. The director shall lift the order when the director determines that the violation that formed the basis for the order has been corrected.

(5) When the director initiates license revocation proceedings, no opportunity for submitting a plan of correction shall be given. The director shall notify the licensee by letter of the initiation of the proceedings. The letter shall list the deficiencies of the residential facility and inform the licensee that no plan of correction will be accepted. The director shall also send a copy of the letter to the county board of developmental disabilities. Except in the case of a licensee that is an ICF/IID, the county board shall send a copy of the letter to each of the following:

(a) Each resident who receives services from the licensee;

(b) The guardian of each resident who receives services from the licensee if the resident has a guardian;

(c) The parent or guardian of each resident who receives services from the licensee if the resident is a minor.

(6) Pursuant to rules which shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the director may order the immediate removal of residents from a residential facility whenever conditions at the facility present an immediate danger of physical or psychological harm to the residents.

(7) In determining whether a residential facility is being operated in compliance with a provision of this chapter that applies to residential facilities or the rules adopted under such a provision, or whether conditions at a residential facility present an immediate danger of physical or psychological harm to the residents, the director may rely on information obtained by a county board of developmental disabilities or other governmental agencies.

(8) In proceedings initiated to deny, refuse to renew, or revoke licenses, the director may deny, refuse to renew, or revoke a license regardless of whether some or all of the deficiencies that prompted the proceedings have been corrected at the time of the hearing.

(E)(1) Except as provided in division (E)(2) of this section, appeals from proceedings initiated to impose a sanction under division (D) of this section shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(2) Appeals from proceedings initiated to order the suspension of admissions to a facility shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, unless the order was issued before providing an opportunity for an adjudication, in which case all of the following apply:

(a) The licensee may request a hearing not later than ten days after receiving the notice specified in section 119.07 of the Revised Code.

(b) If a timely request for a hearing that includes the licensee's current address is made, the hearing shall commence not later than thirty days after the department receives the request.

(c) After commencing, the hearing shall continue uninterrupted, except for Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, unless other interruptions are agreed to by the licensee and the director.

(d) If the hearing is conducted by a hearing examiner, the hearing examiner shall file a report and recommendations not later than ten days after the last of the following:

(i) The close of the hearing;

(ii) If a transcript of the proceedings is ordered, the hearing examiner receives the transcript;

(iii) If post-hearing briefs are timely filed, the hearing examiner receives the briefs.

(e) A copy of the written report and recommendation of the hearing examiner shall be sent, by certified mail, to the licensee and the licensee's attorney, if applicable, not later than five days after the report is filed.

(f) Not later than five days after the hearing examiner files the report and recommendations, the licensee may file objections to the report and recommendations.

(g) Not later than fifteen days after the hearing examiner files the report and recommendations, the director shall issue an order approving, modifying, or disapproving the report and recommendations.

(h) Notwithstanding the pendency of the hearing, the director shall lift the order for the suspension of admissions when the director determines that the violation that formed the basis for the order has been corrected.

(F) Neither a person or government agency whose application for a license to operate a residential facility is denied nor a related party of the person or government agency may apply for a license to operate a residential facility before the date that is five years after the date of the denial. Neither a licensee whose residential facility license is revoked nor a related party of the licensee may apply for a residential facility license before the date that is five years after the date of the revocation.

(G) In accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the director shall adopt and may amend and rescind rules for licensing and regulating the operation of residential facilities. The rules for residential facilities that are ICFs/IID may differ from those for other residential facilities. The rules shall establish and specify the following:

(1) Procedures and criteria for issuing and renewing licenses, including procedures and criteria for determining the length of the licensing period that the director must specify for each license when it is issued or renewed;

(2) Procedures and criteria for denying, refusing to renew, terminating, and revoking licenses and for ordering the suspension of admissions to a facility, placement of a monitor at a facility, and the immediate removal of residents from a facility;

(3) Fees for issuing and renewing licenses, which shall be deposited into the program fee fund created under section 5123.033 of the Revised Code;

(4) Procedures for surveying residential facilities;

(5) Classifications for the various types of residential facilities;

(6) The maximum number of individuals who may be served in a particular type of residential facility;

(7) Uniform procedures for admission of individuals to and transfers and discharges of individuals from residential facilities;

(8) Other standards for the operation of residential facilities and the services provided at residential facilities;

(9) Procedures for waiving any provision of any rule adopted under this section.

(H)(1) Before issuing a license, the director shall conduct a survey of the residential facility for which application is made. The director shall conduct a survey of each licensed residential facility at least once during the period the license is valid and may conduct additional inspections as needed. A survey includes but is not limited to an on-site examination and evaluation of the residential facility, its personnel, and the services provided there. The director may assign to a county board of developmental disabilities or the department of health the responsibility to conduct any survey or inspection under this section.

(2) In conducting surveys, the director shall be given access to the residential facility; all records, accounts, and any other documents related to the operation of the facility; the licensee; the residents of the facility; and all persons acting on behalf of, under the control of, or in connection with the licensee. The licensee and all persons on behalf of, under the control of, or in connection with the licensee shall cooperate with the director in conducting the survey.

(3) Following each survey, the director shall provide the licensee with a report listing the date of the survey, any citations issued as a result of the survey, and the statutes or rules that purportedly have been violated and are the bases of the citations. The director shall also do both of the following:

(a) Specify a date by which the licensee may appeal any of the citations;

(b) When appropriate, specify a timetable within which the licensee must submit a plan of correction describing how the problems specified in the citations will be corrected and, the date by which the licensee anticipates the problems will be corrected.

(4) If the director initiates a proceeding to revoke a license, the director shall include the report required by division (H)(3) of this section with the notice of the proposed revocation the director sends to the licensee. In this circumstance, the licensee may not submit a plan of correction.

(5) After a plan of correction is submitted, the director shall approve or disapprove the plan. If the plan of correction is approved, a copy of the approved plan shall be provided, not later than five business days after it is approved, to any person or government entity who requests it and made available on the internet web site maintained by the department of developmental disabilities. If the plan of correction is not approved and the director initiates a proceeding to revoke the license, a copy of the survey report shall be provided to any person or government entity that requests it and shall be made available on the internet web site maintained by the department.

(6) The director shall initiate disciplinary action against any department employee who notifies or causes the notification to any unauthorized person of an unannounced survey of a residential facility by an authorized representative of the department.

(I) In addition to any other information which may be required of applicants for a license pursuant to this section, the director shall require each applicant to provide a copy of an approved plan for a proposed residential facility pursuant to section 5123.042 of the Revised Code. This division does not apply to renewal of a license or to an applicant for an initial or modified license who meets the requirements of section 5123.197 of the Revised Code.

(J)(1) A licensee shall notify the owner of the building in which the licensee's residential facility is located of any significant change in the identity of the licensee or management contractor before the effective date of the change if the licensee is not the owner of the building.

(2) Pursuant to rules, which shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the director may require notification to the department of any significant change in the ownership of a residential facility or in the identity of the licensee or management contractor. If the director determines that a significant change of ownership is proposed, the director shall consider the proposed change to be an application for development by a new operator pursuant to section 5123.042 of the Revised Code and shall advise the applicant within sixty days of the notification that the current license shall continue in effect or a new license will be required pursuant to this section. If the director requires a new license, the director shall permit the facility to continue to operate under the current license until the new license is issued, unless the current license is revoked, refused to be renewed, or terminated in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(3) A licensee shall transfer to the new licensee or management contractor all records related to the residents of the facility following any significant change in the identity of the licensee or management contractor.

(K) A county board of developmental disabilities and any interested person may file complaints alleging violations of statute or department rule relating to residential facilities with the department. All complaints shall state the facts constituting the basis of the allegation. The department shall not reveal the source of any complaint unless the complainant agrees in writing to waive the right to confidentiality or until so ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The department shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing procedures for the receipt, referral, investigation, and disposition of complaints filed with the department under this division.

(L) Before issuing a license under this section to a residential facility that will accommodate at any time more than one individual with a developmental disability, the director shall, by first class mail, notify the following:

(1) If the facility will be located in a municipal corporation, the clerk of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation;

(2) If the facility will be located in unincorporated territory, the clerk of the appropriate board of county commissioners and the fiscal officer of the appropriate board of township trustees.

The director shall not issue the license for ten days after mailing the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, in order to give the notified local officials time in which to comment on the proposed issuance.

Any legislative authority of a municipal corporation, board of county commissioners, or board of township trustees that receives notice under this division of the proposed issuance of a license for a residential facility may comment on it in writing to the director within ten days after the director mailed the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. If the director receives written comments from any notified officials within the specified time, the director shall make written findings concerning the comments and the director's decision on the issuance of the license. If the director does not receive written comments from any notified local officials within the specified time, the director shall continue the process for issuance of the license.

(M) Any person may operate a licensed residential facility that provides room and board, personal care, habilitation services, and supervision in a family setting for at least six but not more than eight individuals with developmental disabilities as a permitted use in any residential district or zone, including any single-family residential district or zone, of any political subdivision. These residential facilities may be required to comply with area, height, yard, and architectural compatibility requirements that are uniformly imposed upon all single-family residences within the district or zone.

(N) Any person may operate a licensed residential facility that provides room and board, personal care, habilitation services, and supervision in a family setting for at least nine but not more than sixteen individuals with developmental disabilities as a permitted use in any multiple-family residential district or zone of any political subdivision, except that a political subdivision that has enacted a zoning ordinance or resolution establishing planned unit development districts may exclude these residential facilities from those districts, and a political subdivision that has enacted a zoning ordinance or resolution may regulate these residential facilities in multiple-family residential districts or zones as a conditionally permitted use or special exception, in either case, under reasonable and specific standards and conditions set out in the zoning ordinance or resolution to:

(1) Require the architectural design and site layout of the residential facility and the location, nature, and height of any walls, screens, and fences to be compatible with adjoining land uses and the residential character of the neighborhood;

(2) Require compliance with yard, parking, and sign regulation;

(3) Limit excessive concentration of these residential facilities.

(O) This section does not prohibit a political subdivision from applying to residential facilities nondiscriminatory regulations requiring compliance with health, fire, and safety regulations and building standards and regulations.

(P) Divisions (M) and (N) of this section are not applicable to municipal corporations that had in effect on June 15, 1977, an ordinance specifically permitting in residential zones licensed residential facilities by means of permitted uses, conditional uses, or special exception, so long as such ordinance remains in effect without any substantive modification.

(Q)(1) The director may issue an interim license to operate a residential facility to an applicant for a license under this section if either of the following is the case:

(a) The director determines that an emergency exists requiring immediate placement of individuals in a residential facility, that insufficient licensed beds are available, and that the residential facility is likely to receive a permanent license under this section within thirty days after issuance of the interim license.

(b) The director determines that the issuance of an interim license is necessary to meet a temporary need for a residential facility.

(2) To be eligible to receive an interim license, an applicant must meet the same criteria that must be met to receive a permanent license under this section, except for any differing procedures and time frames that may apply to issuance of a permanent license.

(3) An interim license shall be valid for thirty days and may be renewed by the director for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days.

(4) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as the director considers necessary to administer the issuance of interim licenses.

(R) Notwithstanding rules adopted pursuant to this section establishing the maximum number of individuals who may be served in a particular type of residential facility, a residential facility shall be permitted to serve the same number of individuals being served by the facility on the effective date of the rules or the number of individuals for which the facility is authorized pursuant to a current application for a certificate of need with a letter of support from the department of developmental disabilities and which is in the review process prior to April 4, 1986.

This division does not preclude the department from suspending new admissions to a residential facility pursuant to a written order issued under section 5124.70 of the Revised Code.

(S) The director may enter at any time, for purposes of investigation, any home, facility, or other structure that has been reported to the director or that the director has reasonable cause to believe is being operated as a residential facility without a license issued under this section.

The director may petition the court of common pleas of the county in which an unlicensed residential facility is located for an order enjoining the person or governmental agency operating the facility from continuing to operate without a license. The court may grant the injunction on a showing that the person or governmental agency named in the petition is operating a residential facility without a license. The court may grant the injunction, regardless of whether the residential facility meets the requirements for receiving a license under this section.

Last updated August 12, 2021 at 11:31 AM

Available Versions of this Section

• September 15, 2014 – House Bill 483 - 130th General Assembly
• September 29, 2015 – House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly
• October 12, 2016 – House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly
• September 30, 2021 – Amended by House Bill 110 - 134th General Assembly
• April 6, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 558 - 134th General Assembly
• October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly