Since 2004, the Supreme Court of Ohio's Advisory Committee on Children, Families, and the Courts has participated in ongoing efforts to develop and implement recommendations to improve Ohio's system for accepting and investigating reports of child abuse and neglect. One of the fundamental components of the recommendations submitted by its Subcommittee on Responding to Child Abuse, Neglect and Dependency was initiating an Alternative Response child protection model in Ohio. Following a...
Since 2004, the Supreme Court of Ohio's Advisory Committee on Children, Families & the Courts has participated in ongoing efforts to develop and implement recommendations to improve Ohio's system for accepting and investigating reports of child abuse and neglect. One of the fundamental components of the recommendations submitted by its Subcommittee on Responding to Child Abuse, Neglect and Dependency was initiating an Alternative Response child protection model in Ohio....
Over the past fifteen years, an increase in child removals, coupled with a decrease in the number of available foster homes and a growing appreciation for relatives as caregivers, resulted in a significant increase in the number of children being cared for by kin. In addition, federal policy has shifted from an emphasis on non-relative foster care providers to a preference for relative placements. In Ohio, as in many states, law and policy have not kept pace with the huge...
The January 2003 federal Ohio Child and Family Services Review, an assessment of States for substantial conformity with certain Federal requirements for child protective services, found that Ohio is not consistent in its efforts to protect children from abuse or neglect and that Ohio lacks “clear and consistent statewide criteria” for initial child abuse screening decisions. In response, the Supreme Court of Ohio Advisory Committee on Children, Families, and the Courts established...