To amend sections 5153.16 and 6301.07 and to enact sections 2151.81 to 2151.84 and 5111.0111 of the Revised Code regarding the provision of independent living services, Medicaid, and work force development services and activities for certain children and young adults so they may become independent adults.

Section 1. That sections 5153.16 and 6301.07 be amended and sections 2151.81, 2151.82, 2151.83, 2151.84, and 5111.0111 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 2151.81.  As used in sections 2151.82 to 2151.84 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Independent living services" means services and other forms of support designed to aid children and young adults to successfully make the transition to independent adult living and to achieve emotional and economic self-sufficiency. "Independent living services" may include the following:

(1) Providing housing;

(2) Teaching decision-making skills;

(3) Teaching daily living skills such as securing and maintaining a residence, money management, utilization of community services and systems, personal health care, hygiene and safety, and time management;

(4) Assisting in obtaining education, training, and employment skills;

(5) Assisting in developing positive adult relationships and community supports.

(B) "Young adult" means a person eighteen years of age or older but under twenty-one years of age who was in the temporary or permanent custody of, or was provided care in a planned permanent living arrangement by, a public children services agency or private child placing agency on the date the person attained age eighteen.

Sec. 2151.82.  A public children services agency or private child placing agency, that has temporary or permanent custody of, or is providing care in a planned permanent living arrangement to, a child who is sixteen or seventeen years of age, shall provide independent living services to the child. The services to be provided shall be determined based on an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the child, completed or obtained by the agency. If housing is provided as part of the services, the child shall be placed in housing that is supervised or semi-supervised by an adult.

The services shall be included as part of the case plan established for the child pursuant to section 2151.412 of the Revised Code.

Sec.  2151.83.  (A) A public children services agency or private child placing agency, on the request of a young adult, shall enter into a jointly prepared written agreement with the young adult that obligates the agency to ensure that independent living services are provided to the young adult and sets forth the responsibilities of the young adult regarding the services. The agreement shall be developed based on the young adult's strengths, needs, and circumstances and the availability of funds provided pursuant to section 2151.84 of the Revised Code. The agreement shall be designed to promote the young adult's successful transition to independent adult living and emotional and economic self-sufficiency.

(B) If the young adult appears to be eligible for services from one or more of the following entities, the agency must contact the appropriate entity to determine eligibility:

(1) An entity, other than the agency, that is represented on a county family and children first council established pursuant to section 121.37 of the Revised Code. If the entity is a board of alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services, an alcohol and drug addiction services board, or a community mental health board, the agency shall contact the provider of alcohol, drug addiction, or mental health services that has been designated by the board to determine the young adult's eligibility for services.

(2) The rehabilitation services commission;

(3) A metropolitan housing authority established pursuant to section 3735.27 of the Revised Code.

If an entity described in this division determines that the young adult qualifies for services from the entity, that entity, the young adult, and the agency to which the young adult made the request for independent living services shall enter into a written addendum to the jointly prepared agreement entered into under division (A) of this section. The addendum shall indicate how services under the agreement and addendum are to be coordinated and allocate the service responsibilities among the entities and agency that signed the addendum.

Sec. 2151.84.  The department of job and family services shall establish model agreements that may be used by public children services agencies and private child placing agencies required to provide services under an agreement with a young adult pursuant to section 2151.83 of the Revised Code. The model agreements shall include provisions describing the specific independent living services to be provided to the extent funds are provided pursuant to this section, the duration of the services and the agreement, the duties and responsibilities of each party under the agreement, and grievance procedures regarding disputes that arise regarding the agreement or services provided under it.

To facilitate the provision of independent living services, the department shall provide funds to meet the requirement of state matching funds needed to qualify for federal funds under the "Foster Care Independence Act of 1999," 113 Stat. 1822 (1999), 42 U.S.C. 677, as amended. The department shall seek controlling board approval of any fund transfers necessary to meet this requirement.

Sec. 5111.0111.  The director of job and family services may submit to the United States secretary of health and human services an amendment to the state medicaid plan to make an individual receiving independent living services pursuant to sections 2151.81 to 2151.84 of the Revised Code eligible for medicaid. If approved by the United States secretary of health and human services, the director of job and family services shall implement the medicaid plan amendment submitted under this section.

Sec. 5153.16.  (A) Except as provided in section 2151.422 of the Revised Code, in accordance with rules of the department of job and family services, and on behalf of children in the county whom the public children services agency considers to be in need of public care or protective services, the public children services agency shall do all of the following:

(1) Make an investigation concerning any child alleged to be an abused, neglected, or dependent child;

(2) Enter into agreements with the parent, guardian, or other person having legal custody of any child, or with the department of job and family services, department of mental health, department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, other department, any certified organization within or outside the county, or any agency or institution outside the state, having legal custody of any child, with respect to the custody, care, or placement of any child, or with respect to any matter, in the interests of the child, provided the permanent custody of a child shall not be transferred by a parent to the public children services agency without the consent of the juvenile court;

(3) Accept custody of children committed to the public children services agency by a court exercising juvenile jurisdiction;

(4) Provide such care as the public children services agency considers to be in the best interests of any child adjudicated to be an abused, neglected, or dependent child the agency finds to be in need of public care or service;

(5) Provide social services to any unmarried girl adjudicated to be an abused, neglected, or dependent child who is pregnant with or has been delivered of a child;

(6) Make available to the bureau for children with medical handicaps of the department of health at its request any information concerning a crippled child found to be in need of treatment under sections 3701.021 to 3701.028 of the Revised Code who is receiving services from the public children services agency;

(7) Provide temporary emergency care for any child considered by the public children services agency to be in need of such care, without agreement or commitment;

(8) Find certified foster homes, within or outside the county, for the care of children, including handicapped children from other counties attending special schools in the county;

(9) Subject to the approval of the board of county commissioners and the state department of job and family services, establish and operate a training school or enter into an agreement with any municipal corporation or other political subdivision of the county respecting the operation, acquisition, or maintenance of any children's home, training school, or other institution for the care of children maintained by such municipal corporation or political subdivision;

(10) Acquire and operate a county children's home, establish, maintain, and operate a receiving home for the temporary care of children, or procure certified foster homes for this purpose;

(11) Enter into an agreement with the trustees of any district children's home, respecting the operation of the district children's home in cooperation with the other county boards in the district;

(12) Cooperate with, make its services available to, and act as the agent of persons, courts, the department of job and family services, the department of health, and other organizations within and outside the state, in matters relating to the welfare of children, except that the public children services agency shall not be required to provide supervision of or other services related to the exercise of parenting time rights granted pursuant to section 3109.051 or 3109.12 of the Revised Code or companionship or visitation rights granted pursuant to section 3109.051, 3109.11, or 3109.12 of the Revised Code unless a juvenile court, pursuant to Chapter 2151. of the Revised Code, or a common pleas court, pursuant to division (E)(6) of section 3113.31 of the Revised Code, requires the provision of supervision or other services related to the exercise of the parenting time rights or companionship or visitation rights;

(13) Make investigations at the request of any superintendent of schools in the county or the principal of any school concerning the application of any child adjudicated to be an abused, neglected, or dependent child for release from school, where such service is not provided through a school attendance department;

(14) Administer funds provided under Title IV-E of the "Social Security Act," 94 Stat. 501 (1980), 42 U.S.C.A. 671, as amended, in accordance with rules adopted under section 5101.141 of the Revised Code;

(15) In addition to administering Title IV-E adoption assistance funds, enter into agreements to make adoption assistance payments under section 5153.163 of the Revised Code;

(16) Implement a system of risk assessment, in accordance with rules adopted by the director of job and family services, to assist the public children services agency in determining the risk of abuse or neglect to a child;

(17) Enter into a plan of cooperation with the board of county commissioners under section 307.983 of the Revised Code and comply with the partnership agreement the board enters into under section 307.98 of the Revised Code and contracts the board enters into under sections 307.981 and 307.982 of the Revised Code that affect the public children services agency;

(18) Make reasonable efforts to prevent the removal of an alleged or adjudicated abused, neglected, or dependent child from the child's home, eliminate the continued removal of the child from the child's home, or make it possible for the child to return home safely, except that reasonable efforts of that nature are not required when a court has made a determination under division (A)(2) of section 2151.419 of the Revised Code;

(19) Make reasonable efforts to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan approved under division (E) of section 2151.417 of the Revised Code and to complete whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child;

(20) Administer a Title IV-A program identified under division (A)(3)(c) or (d) of section 5101.80 of the Revised Code that the department of job and family services provides for the public children services agency to administer under the department's supervision pursuant to section 5101.801 of the Revised Code;

(21) Provide independent living services pursuant to sections 2151.81 to 2151.84 of the Revised Code.

(B) The public children services agency shall use the system implemented pursuant to division (B)(16) of this section in connection with an investigation undertaken pursuant to division (F)(1) of section 2151.421 of the Revised Code and may use the system at any other time the agency is involved with any child when the agency determines that risk assessment is necessary.

(C) Except as provided in section 2151.422 of the Revised Code, in accordance with rules of the director of job and family services, and on behalf of children in the county whom the public children services agency considers to be in need of public care or protective services, the public children services agency may do the following:

(1) Provide or find, with other child serving systems, specialized foster care for the care of children in a specialized foster home, as defined in section 5103.02 of the Revised Code, certified under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code;

(2)(a) Except as limited by divisions (C)(2)(b) and (c) of this section, contract with the following for the purpose of assisting the agency with its duties:

(i) County departments of job and family services;

(ii) Boards of alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services;

(iii) County boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(iv) Regional councils of political subdivisions established under Chapter 167. of the Revised Code;

(v) Private and government providers of services;

(vi) Managed care organizations and prepaid health plans.

(b) A public children services agency contract under division (C)(2)(a) of this section regarding the agency's duties under section 2151.421 of the Revised Code may not provide for the entity under contract with the agency to perform any service not authorized by the department's rules.

(c) Only a county children services board appointed under section 5153.03 of the Revised Code that is a public children services agency may contract under division (C)(2)(a) of this section. If an entity specified in division (B) or (C) of section 5153.02 of the Revised Code is the public children services agency for a county, the board of county commissioners may enter into contracts pursuant to section 307.982 of the Revised Code regarding the agency's duties.

Sec. 6301.07.  (A) Every workforce policy board, with the agreement of the chief elected officials of the local area, and after holding public hearings that allow public comment and testimony, shall prepare a workforce development plan and incorporate that plan into and attach that plan to the partnership agreement required under section 6301.05 of the Revised Code. The plan shall accomplish all of the following:

(1) Identify the workforce investment needs of businesses in the local area, identify projected employment opportunities, and identify the job skills necessary to obtain those opportunities;

(2) Identify the local area's workforce development needs for youth, dislocated workers, adults, displaced homemakers, incumbent workers, and any other group of workers identified by the workforce policy board;

(3) Determine the distribution of workforce development resources and funding to be distributed for each workforce development activity to meet the identified needs, utilizing the funds allocated pursuant to the "Workforce Investment Act of 1998," 112 Stat. 936, 29 U.S.C.A. 2801, as amended;

(4) Give priority to youth receiving independent living services pursuant to sections 2151.81 to 2151.84 of the Revised Code when determining distribution of workforce development resources and workforce development activity funding;

(5) Review the minimum curriculum required by the state workforce policy board for certifying training providers and identify any additional curriculum requirements to include in contracts between the training providers and the chief elected officials of the local area;

(5)(6) Establish performance standards for service providers that reflect local workforce development needs;

(6)(7) Describe any other information the chief elected officials of the local area require.

(B) A workforce policy board may provide policy guidance and recommendations to the chief elected officials of a local area for any workforce development activities.

(C) Nothing in this section prohibits the chief elected officials of a local area from assigning, through a partnership agreement, any duties in addition to the duties under this section to a workforce policy board, except that a workforce policy board cannot contract with itself for the direct provision of services in its local area. A workforce policy board may consult with the chief elected officials of its local area and make recommendations regarding the workforce development activities provided in its local area at any time.

Section 2.  That existing sections 5153.16 and 6301.07 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.