Ohio lawmakers to examine gaps in placement system for delinquent youth

Ohio lawmakers will begin examining gaps in the state’s system for placing delinquent youth in residential facilities next week as a newly formed study committee considers changes to how those children are placed and served.

Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, appointed state Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, to serve as co-chair of the Study Committee to Evaluate the Placement of Delinquent Children in Residential Facilities. The committee will hold its first meeting Monday at the Ohio Statehouse.

The committee was created under House Bill 315, a wide-ranging measure enacted during the previous General Assembly. Under the law, members are tasked with evaluating how delinquent youth are placed in residential facilities, examining the resources available to support them and identifying gaps in the existing system.

Juvenile judges can divert some youth into community-based programs and residential facilities rather than Department of Youth Services correctional facilities.

“The safety and well-being of all children placed in the foster care system in Ohio is of utmost importance,” White said in a statement Wednesday.

White said previous legislative work involving group homes exposed problems with placing youth involved in the juvenile court system into the care of child services agencies.

“Representative Plummer and I learned through our group homes legislation that there are significant gaps and challenges related to meeting the needs of youth involved with the juvenile court system who are placed in the care of children’s services,” White said.

House Bill 315 made several changes governing residential facilities in addition to creating the study committee. Public and private child-placement agencies are required to inform a residential facility of charges for which a child was previously adjudicated delinquent before placement, or within 96 hours in certain emergency placements.

The law also requires the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to determine an ideal number of residential facilities for different regions of the state based on the number of foster children requiring residential care. The department must establish incentives aimed at attracting facilities to areas with shortages so children can remain closer to their home counties.

Residential facilities are subject to at least one annual state inspection, with additional visits possible based on reports, complaints and other concerns. The law also requires annual surveys of residential facilities and child services staff to identify concerns involving facility operations, children and employees.

The committee’s work comes as lawmakers are also examining the rising cost of placing children in foster and residential care. State Reps. Justin Pizzulli, R-Scioto County, and Darnell Brewer, D-Cleveland, introduced House Bill 984 this week to require the Department of Children and Youth to establish statewide rates for reimbursable foster-care placements. Supporters say foster-care costs have increased 68% since 2020 even as the number of children in care has declined.

Under the proposal, the department would develop the rates with input from children services agencies, licensed providers and county commissioners, with exceptions allowed for extraordinary or specialized placements.

Huffman said White’s previous work on children’s issues gives her an understanding of problems within the current placement system.

“Through her work, she has developed a deep and informed understanding of the current judicial system related to adjudicated delinquent children and the need to better serve Ohio’s youth and public,” Huffman said in a release.

Huffman also appointed state Reps. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, and Erika White, D-Springfield Township, to the committee. State law requires the panel to include representatives from the departments of Children and Youth, Youth Services and Mental Health and Addiction Services, along with juvenile judges, children services officials, law enforcement, residential facility operators, a public defender and state lawmakers.

The committee must recommend changes to Ohio’s placement system and submit a report to the governor and General Assembly within nine months after all members have been appointed.

The first meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 24.