South Dayton News

COLUMBUS – State Representatives Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) have introduced a bill aimed at ensuring children in foster group homes receive safe, stable, and supportive care. The legislation seeks to establish appropriate standards and accountability for group home providers.

The bill addresses concerns raised by community members and leaders in Montgomery County, which hosts 80 of Ohio's approximately 200 group homes. Due to the high concentration of homes in this county and the lack of facilities elsewhere, many children placed in Montgomery County group homes come from outside the county. Local service providers, including courts, schools, medical professionals, and law enforcement agencies, report difficulties in reaching group home providers as well as out-of-county caseworkers responsible for guardianship decisions. This has led to significant delays in children receiving necessary care and interventions. In Dayton alone, calls to children's group homes have increased by 87% since 2019.

"Our number one concern is for our children who are in need of a temporary loving, safe environment," said Representative White. "Ohio is taking steps to secure more family homes where foster children can be placed, but in the meantime, we have children who are being placed many miles and many counties away from where their parents or caregivers live because there is a shortage of places in their home communities."

Representative Plummer added: "Juvenile group homes have become a new option to provide substitute living arrangements for the growing number of youth who need out-of-home care. Montgomery County has seen a substantial increase in group homes in our community, which creates its own set of challenges for our youth-serving organizations and community service providers. We are going to properly regulate these homes to ensure the owners are properly trained and equipped to handle the various challenges children face. We have had numerous complaints regarding this situation and we are going to demand accountability on behalf of our foster children."

Key components of the bill include:

- Raising minimum training requirements for staff and providers.

- Creating time standards for juvenile group home providers and custodial children's services agencies.

- Requiring hospitals to notify relevant departments when a foster child has an emergency visit or inpatient admission.

- Mandating law enforcement notifications regarding interactions with foster children.

- Establishing guidelines for housing juveniles charged with violent offenses separately from other foster care placements.

- Ensuring that group home providers meet local zoning requirements before proceeding with licensure applications.

- Providing immediate suspension capabilities for DCY and ODMHAS during urgent situations.

- Allowing townships to revoke conditional use permits if zoning standards are not met.

- Implementing a clear complaint process within DCY regarding specific group homes.

- Exploring incentives for establishing more group homes where needed.

HB 583’s initial version includes intent language focused on increasing requirements, compliance measures, and accountability standards for children's group homes. A detailed substitute version will be introduced at the first hearing before the House Families and Aging Committee.