Elevating Foster Care Priorities in Ohio

WHEREAS, the Office of Families and Children, within the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, supervises Ohio’s child welfare system, including in-home services to families, foster care, and adoption; and

WHEREAS, more than 15,000 children were served in out-of-home care at any point in time in 2018, which represents more than a 25 percent increase since 2013; and

WHEREAS, one-half of children served in out-of-home care were due to parental substance use disorders; and

WHEREAS, Ohio lacks adequate foster homes to serve the number of children in out-of-home placement, with just over 7,000 homes for more than 15,000 children; and

WHEREAS, one in seven child welfare case workers left their job in 2016, costing the state more than $24 million in recruitment, training, and overtime costs; and

WHEREAS, roughly 1,000 Ohio children emancipate out of foster care each year without a permanent, loving home;

NOW THEREFORE, I, Mike DeWine, Governor of the State of Ohio, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of this State do hereby order and direct that the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services promptly elevate the seniority of the Office of Families and Children to report directly to the Director of the Department of Job and Family Services. The Deputy Director of the Office of Families and Children shall then be named the Assistant Director of the Office of Families and Children.

I signed this Executive Order on January 14, 2019 in Cedarville, Ohio and it will not expire unless it is rescinded.

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Mike DeWine, Governor

ATTEST:

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Frank LaRose, Secretary of State