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Sub. H. B. No. 352 As Passed by the HouseAs Passed by the House
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Representatives Hayes, Thompson
Cosponsors:
Representatives McClain, Derickson, Amstutz, Wachtmann, Buchy, Hill, Huffman, Retherford, Ruhl, Sears, Terhar
A BILL
To amend sections 2151.011, 2151.421, and 5103.02 and
to enact sections 5103.50, 5103.51, 5103.52,
5103.53, 5103.54, and 5103.55 of the Revised Code
to license private, nonprofit therapeutic
wilderness camps.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2151.011, 2151.421, and 5103.02 be
amended and sections 5103.50, 5103.51, 5103.52, 5103.53, 5103.54,
and 5103.55 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 2151.011. (A) As used in the Revised Code:
(1) "Juvenile court" means whichever of the following is
applicable that has jurisdiction under this chapter and Chapter
2152. of the Revised Code:
(a) The division of the court of common pleas specified in
section 2101.022 or 2301.03 of the Revised Code as having
jurisdiction under this chapter and Chapter 2152. of the Revised
Code or as being the juvenile division or the juvenile division
combined with one or more other divisions;
(b) The juvenile court of Cuyahoga county or Hamilton county
that is separately and independently created by section 2151.08 or
Chapter 2153. of the Revised Code and that has jurisdiction under
this chapter and Chapter 2152. of the Revised Code;
(c) If division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section does not
apply, the probate division of the court of common pleas.
(2) "Juvenile judge" means a judge of a court having
jurisdiction under this chapter.
(3) "Private child placing agency" means any association, as
defined in section 5103.02 of the Revised Code, that is certified
under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code to accept temporary,
permanent, or legal custody of children and place the children for
either foster care or adoption.
(4) "Private noncustodial agency" means any person,
organization, association, or society certified by the department
of job and family services that does not accept temporary or
permanent legal custody of children, that is privately operated in
this state, and that does one or more of the following:
(a) Receives and cares for children for two or more
consecutive weeks;
(b) Participates in the placement of children in certified
foster homes;
(c) Provides adoption services in conjunction with a public
children services agency or private child placing agency.
(B) As used in this chapter:
(1) "Adequate parental care" means the provision by a child's
parent or parents, guardian, or custodian of adequate food,
clothing, and shelter to ensure the child's health and physical
safety and the provision by a child's parent or parents of
specialized services warranted by the child's physical or mental
needs.
(2) "Adult" means an individual who is eighteen years of age
or older.
(3) "Agreement for temporary custody" means a voluntary
agreement authorized by section 5103.15 of the Revised Code that
transfers the temporary custody of a child to a public children
services agency or a private child placing agency.
(4) "Alternative response" means the public children services
agency's response to a report of child abuse or neglect that
engages the family in a comprehensive evaluation of child safety,
risk of subsequent harm, and family strengths and needs and that
does not include a determination as to whether child abuse or
neglect occurred.
(5) "Certified foster home" means a foster home, as defined
in section 5103.02 of the Revised Code, certified under section
5103.03 of the Revised Code.
(6) "Child" means a person who is under eighteen years of
age, except that the juvenile court has jurisdiction over any
person who is adjudicated an unruly child prior to attaining
eighteen years of age until the person attains twenty-one years of
age, and, for purposes of that jurisdiction related to that
adjudication, a person who is so adjudicated an unruly child shall
be deemed a "child" until the person attains twenty-one years of
age.
(7) "Child day camp," "child care," "child day-care center,"
"part-time child day-care center," "type A family day-care home,"
"licensed type B family day-care home," "type B family day-care
home," "administrator of a child day-care center," "administrator
of a type A family day-care home," and "in-home aide" have the
same meanings as in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code.
(8) "Child care provider" means an individual who is a
child-care staff member or administrator of a child day-care
center, a type A family day-care home, or a type B family day-care
home, or an in-home aide or an individual who is licensed, is
regulated, is approved, operates under the direction of, or
otherwise is certified by the department of job and family
services, department of developmental disabilities, or the early
childhood programs of the department of education.
(9) "Chronic truant" has the same meaning as in section
2152.02 of the Revised Code.
(10) "Commit" means to vest custody as ordered by the court.
(11) "Counseling" includes both of the following:
(a) General counseling services performed by a public
children services agency or shelter for victims of domestic
violence to assist a child, a child's parents, and a child's
siblings in alleviating identified problems that may cause or have
caused the child to be an abused, neglected, or dependent child.
(b) Psychiatric or psychological therapeutic counseling
services provided to correct or alleviate any mental or emotional
illness or disorder and performed by a licensed psychiatrist,
licensed psychologist, or a person licensed under Chapter 4757. of
the Revised Code to engage in social work or professional
counseling.
(12) "Custodian" means a person who has legal custody of a
child or a public children services agency or private child
placing agency that has permanent, temporary, or legal custody of
a child.
(13) "Delinquent child" has the same meaning as in section
2152.02 of the Revised Code.
(14) "Detention" means the temporary care of children pending
court adjudication or disposition, or execution of a court order,
in a public or private facility designed to physically restrict
the movement and activities of children.
(15) "Developmental disability" has the same meaning as in
section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.
(16) "Differential response approach" means an approach that
a public children services agency may use to respond to accepted
reports of child abuse or neglect with either an alternative
response or a traditional response.
(17) "Foster caregiver" has the same meaning as in section
5103.02 of the Revised Code.
(18) "Guardian" means a person, association, or corporation
that is granted authority by a probate court pursuant to Chapter
2111. of the Revised Code to exercise parental rights over a child
to the extent provided in the court's order and subject to the
residual parental rights of the child's parents.
(19) "Habitual truant" means any child of compulsory school
age who is absent without legitimate excuse for absence from the
public school the child is supposed to attend for five or more
consecutive school days, seven or more school days in one school
month, or twelve or more school days in a school year.
(20) "Juvenile traffic offender" has the same meaning as in
section 2152.02 of the Revised Code.
(21) "Legal custody" means a legal status that vests in the
custodian the right to have physical care and control of the child
and to determine where and with whom the child shall live, and the
right and duty to protect, train, and discipline the child and to
provide the child with food, shelter, education, and medical care,
all subject to any residual parental rights, privileges, and
responsibilities. An individual granted legal custody shall
exercise the rights and responsibilities personally unless
otherwise authorized by any section of the Revised Code or by the
court.
(22) A "legitimate excuse for absence from the public school
the child is supposed to attend" includes, but is not limited to,
any of the following:
(a) The fact that the child in question has enrolled in and
is attending another public or nonpublic school in this or another
state;
(b) The fact that the child in question is excused from
attendance at school for any of the reasons specified in section
3321.04 of the Revised Code;
(c) The fact that the child in question has received an age
and schooling certificate in accordance with section 3331.01 of
the Revised Code.
(23) "Mental illness" and "mentally ill person subject to
hospitalization by court order" have the same meanings as in
section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.
(24) "Mental injury" means any behavioral, cognitive,
emotional, or mental disorder in a child caused by an act or
omission that is described in section 2919.22 of the Revised Code
and is committed by the parent or other person responsible for the
child's care.
(25) "Mentally retarded person" has the same meaning as in
section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.
(26) "Nonsecure care, supervision, or training" means care,
supervision, or training of a child in a facility that does not
confine or prevent movement of the child within the facility or
from the facility.
(27) "Of compulsory school age" has the same meaning as in
section 3321.01 of the Revised Code.
(28) "Organization" means any institution, public,
semipublic, or private, and any private association, society, or
agency located or operating in the state, incorporated or
unincorporated, having among its functions the furnishing of
protective services or care for children, or the placement of
children in certified foster homes or elsewhere.
(29) "Out-of-home care" means detention facilities, shelter
facilities, certified children's crisis care facilities, certified
foster homes, placement in a prospective adoptive home prior to
the issuance of a final decree of adoption, organizations,
certified organizations, child day-care centers, type A family
day-care homes, type B family day-care homes, child care provided
by in-home aides, group home providers, group homes, institutions,
state institutions, residential facilities, residential care
facilities, residential camps, day camps, private, nonprofit
therapeutic wilderness camps, public schools, chartered nonpublic
schools, educational service centers, hospitals, and medical
clinics that are responsible for the care, physical custody, or
control of children.
(30) "Out-of-home care child abuse" means any of the
following when committed by a person responsible for the care of a
child in out-of-home care:
(a) Engaging in sexual activity with a child in the person's
care;
(b) Denial to a child, as a means of punishment, of proper or
necessary subsistence, education, medical care, or other care
necessary for a child's health;
(c) Use of restraint procedures on a child that cause injury
or pain;
(d) Administration of prescription drugs or psychotropic
medication to the child without the written approval and ongoing
supervision of a licensed physician;
(e) Commission of any act, other than by accidental means,
that results in any injury to or death of the child in out-of-home
care or commission of any act by accidental means that results in
an injury to or death of a child in out-of-home care and that is
at variance with the history given of the injury or death.
(31) "Out-of-home care child neglect" means any of the
following when committed by a person responsible for the care of a
child in out-of-home care:
(a) Failure to provide reasonable supervision according to
the standards of care appropriate to the age, mental and physical
condition, or other special needs of the child;
(b) Failure to provide reasonable supervision according to
the standards of care appropriate to the age, mental and physical
condition, or other special needs of the child, that results in
sexual or physical abuse of the child by any person;
(c) Failure to develop a process for all of the following:
(i) Administration of prescription drugs or psychotropic
drugs for the child;
(ii) Assuring that the instructions of the licensed physician
who prescribed a drug for the child are followed;
(iii) Reporting to the licensed physician who prescribed the
drug all unfavorable or dangerous side effects from the use of the
drug.
(d) Failure to provide proper or necessary subsistence,
education, medical care, or other individualized care necessary
for the health or well-being of the child;
(e) Confinement of the child to a locked room without
monitoring by staff;
(f) Failure to provide ongoing security for all prescription
and nonprescription medication;
(g) Isolation of a child for a period of time when there is
substantial risk that the isolation, if continued, will impair or
retard the mental health or physical well-being of the child.
(32) "Permanent custody" means a legal status that vests in a
public children services agency or a private child placing agency,
all parental rights, duties, and obligations, including the right
to consent to adoption, and divests the natural parents or
adoptive parents of all parental rights, privileges, and
obligations, including all residual rights and obligations.
(33) "Permanent surrender" means the act of the parents or,
if a child has only one parent, of the parent of a child, by a
voluntary agreement authorized by section 5103.15 of the Revised
Code, to transfer the permanent custody of the child to a public
children services agency or a private child placing agency.
(34) "Person" means an individual, association, corporation,
or partnership and the state or any of its political subdivisions,
departments, or agencies.
(35) "Person responsible for a child's care in out-of-home
care" means any of the following:
(a) Any foster caregiver, in-home aide, or provider;
(b) Any administrator, employee, or agent of any of the
following: a public or private detention facility; shelter
facility; certified children's crisis care facility; organization;
certified organization; child day-care center; type A family
day-care home; licensed type B family day-care home; group home;
institution; state institution; residential facility; residential
care facility; residential camp; day camp; school district;
community school; chartered nonpublic school; educational service
center; hospital; or medical clinic;
(c) Any person who supervises or coaches children as part of
an extracurricular activity sponsored by a school district, public
school, or chartered nonpublic school;
(d) Any other person who performs a similar function with
respect to, or has a similar relationship to, children.
(36) "Physically impaired" means having one or more of the
following conditions that substantially limit one or more of an
individual's major life activities, including self-care, receptive
and expressive language, learning, mobility, and self-direction:
(a) A substantial impairment of vision, speech, or hearing;
(b) A congenital orthopedic impairment;
(c) An orthopedic impairment caused by disease, rheumatic
fever or any other similar chronic or acute health problem, or
amputation or another similar cause.
(37) "Placement for adoption" means the arrangement by a
public children services agency or a private child placing agency
with a person for the care and adoption by that person of a child
of whom the agency has permanent custody.
(38) "Placement in foster care" means the arrangement by a
public children services agency or a private child placing agency
for the out-of-home care of a child of whom the agency has
temporary custody or permanent custody.
(39) "Planned permanent living arrangement" means an order of
a juvenile court pursuant to which both of the following apply:
(a) The court gives legal custody of a child to a public
children services agency or a private child placing agency without
the termination of parental rights.
(b) The order permits the agency to make an appropriate
placement of the child and to enter into a written agreement with
a foster care provider or with another person or agency with whom
the child is placed.
(40) "Practice of social work" and "practice of professional
counseling" have the same meanings as in section 4757.01 of the
Revised Code.
(41) "Private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp" has the
same meaning as in section 5103.02 of the Revised Code.
(42) "Sanction, service, or condition" means a sanction,
service, or condition created by court order following an
adjudication that a child is an unruly child that is described in
division (A)(4) of section 2152.19 of the Revised Code.
(42)(43) "Protective supervision" means an order of
disposition pursuant to which the court permits an abused,
neglected, dependent, or unruly child to remain in the custody of
the child's parents, guardian, or custodian and stay in the
child's home, subject to any conditions and limitations upon the
child, the child's parents, guardian, or custodian, or any other
person that the court prescribes, including supervision as
directed by the court for the protection of the child.
(43)(44) "Psychiatrist" has the same meaning as in section
5122.01 of the Revised Code.
(44)(45) "Psychologist" has the same meaning as in section
4732.01 of the Revised Code.
(45)(46) "Residential camp" means a program in which the
care, physical custody, or control of children is accepted
overnight for recreational or recreational and educational
purposes.
(46)(47) "Residential care facility" means an institution,
residence, or facility that is licensed by the department of
mental health and addiction services under section 5119.34 of the
Revised Code and that provides care for a child.
(47)(48) "Residential facility" means a home or facility that
is licensed by the department of developmental disabilities under
section 5123.19 of the Revised Code and in which a child with a
developmental disability resides.
(48)(49) "Residual parental rights, privileges, and
responsibilities" means those rights, privileges, and
responsibilities remaining with the natural parent after the
transfer of legal custody of the child, including, but not
necessarily limited to, the privilege of reasonable visitation,
consent to adoption, the privilege to determine the child's
religious affiliation, and the responsibility for support.
(49)(50) "School day" means the school day established by the
board of education of the applicable school district pursuant to
section 3313.481 of the Revised Code.
(50)(51) "School year" has the same meaning as in section
3313.62 of the Revised Code.
(51)(52) "Secure correctional facility" means a facility
under the direction of the department of youth services that is
designed to physically restrict the movement and activities of
children and used for the placement of children after adjudication
and disposition.
(52)(53) "Sexual activity" has the same meaning as in section
2907.01 of the Revised Code.
(53)(54) "Shelter" means the temporary care of children in
physically unrestricted facilities pending court adjudication or
disposition.
(54)(55) "Shelter for victims of domestic violence" has the
same meaning as in section 3113.33 of the Revised Code.
(55)(56) "Temporary custody" means legal custody of a child
who is removed from the child's home, which custody may be
terminated at any time at the discretion of the court or, if the
legal custody is granted in an agreement for temporary custody, by
the person who executed the agreement.
(56)(57) "Traditional response" means a public children
services agency's response to a report of child abuse or neglect
that encourages engagement of the family in a comprehensive
evaluation of the child's current and future safety needs and a
fact-finding process to determine whether child abuse or neglect
occurred and the circumstances surrounding the alleged harm or
risk of harm.
(C) For the purposes of this chapter, a child shall be
presumed abandoned when the parents of the child have failed to
visit or maintain contact with the child for more than ninety
days, regardless of whether the parents resume contact with the
child after that period of ninety days.
Sec. 2151.421. (A)(1)(a) No person described in division
(A)(1)(b) of this section who is acting in an official or
professional capacity and knows, or has reasonable cause to
suspect based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a
similar position to suspect, that a child under eighteen years of
age or a mentally retarded, developmentally disabled, or
physically impaired child under twenty-one years of age has
suffered or faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental
wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that
reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the child shall fail to
immediately report that knowledge or reasonable cause to suspect
to the entity or persons specified in this division. Except as
provided in section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, the person
making the report shall make it to the public children services
agency or a municipal or county peace officer in the county in
which the child resides or in which the abuse or neglect is
occurring or has occurred. In the circumstances described in
section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, the person making the report
shall make it to the entity specified in that section.
(b) Division (A)(1)(a) of this section applies to any person
who is an attorney; physician, including a hospital intern or
resident; dentist; podiatrist; practitioner of a limited branch of
medicine as specified in section 4731.15 of the Revised Code;
registered nurse; licensed practical nurse; visiting nurse; other
health care professional; licensed psychologist; licensed school
psychologist; independent marriage and family therapist or
marriage and family therapist; speech pathologist or audiologist;
coroner; administrator or employee of a child day-care center;
administrator or employee of a residential camp or, child day
camp, or private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp;
administrator or employee of a certified child care agency or
other public or private children services agency; school teacher;
school employee; school authority; person engaged in social work
or the practice of professional counseling; agent of a county
humane society; person, other than a cleric, rendering spiritual
treatment through prayer in accordance with the tenets of a
well-recognized religion; employee of a county department of job
and family services who is a professional and who works with
children and families; superintendent, board member, or employee
of a county board of developmental disabilities; investigative
agent contracted with by a county board of developmental
disabilities; employee of the department of developmental
disabilities; employee of a facility or home that provides respite
care in accordance with section 5123.171 of the Revised Code;
employee of a home health agency; employee of an entity that
provides homemaker services; a person performing the duties of an
assessor pursuant to Chapter 3107. or 5103. of the Revised Code;
or third party employed by a public children services agency to
assist in providing child or family related services.
(2) Except as provided in division (A)(3) of this section, an
attorney or a physician is not required to make a report pursuant
to division (A)(1) of this section concerning any communication
the attorney or physician receives from a client or patient in an
attorney-client or physician-patient relationship, if, in
accordance with division (A) or (B) of section 2317.02 of the
Revised Code, the attorney or physician could not testify with
respect to that communication in a civil or criminal proceeding.
(3) The client or patient in an attorney-client or
physician-patient relationship described in division (A)(2) of
this section is deemed to have waived any testimonial privilege
under division (A) or (B) of section 2317.02 of the Revised Code
with respect to any communication the attorney or physician
receives from the client or patient in that attorney-client or
physician-patient relationship, and the attorney or physician
shall make a report pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section
with respect to that communication, if all of the following apply:
(a) The client or patient, at the time of the communication,
is either a child under eighteen years of age or a mentally
retarded, developmentally disabled, or physically impaired person
under twenty-one years of age.
(b) The attorney or physician knows, or has reasonable cause
to suspect based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in
similar position to suspect, as a result of the communication or
any observations made during that communication, that the client
or patient has suffered or faces a threat of suffering any
physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or condition of a
nature that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the client or
patient.
(c) The abuse or neglect does not arise out of the client's
or patient's attempt to have an abortion without the notification
of her parents, guardian, or custodian in accordance with section
2151.85 of the Revised Code.
(4)(a) No cleric and no person, other than a volunteer,
designated by any church, religious society, or faith acting as a
leader, official, or delegate on behalf of the church, religious
society, or faith who is acting in an official or professional
capacity, who knows, or has reasonable cause to believe based on
facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar position
to believe, that a child under eighteen years of age or a mentally
retarded, developmentally disabled, or physically impaired child
under twenty-one years of age has suffered or faces a threat of
suffering any physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or
condition of a nature that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect
of the child, and who knows, or has reasonable cause to believe
based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar
position to believe, that another cleric or another person, other
than a volunteer, designated by a church, religious society, or
faith acting as a leader, official, or delegate on behalf of the
church, religious society, or faith caused, or poses the threat of
causing, the wound, injury, disability, or condition that
reasonably indicates abuse or neglect shall fail to immediately
report that knowledge or reasonable cause to believe to the entity
or persons specified in this division. Except as provided in
section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, the person making the report
shall make it to the public children services agency or a
municipal or county peace officer in the county in which the child
resides or in which the abuse or neglect is occurring or has
occurred. In the circumstances described in section 5120.173 of
the Revised Code, the person making the report shall make it to
the entity specified in that section.
(b) Except as provided in division (A)(4)(c) of this section,
a cleric is not required to make a report pursuant to division
(A)(4)(a) of this section concerning any communication the cleric
receives from a penitent in a cleric-penitent relationship, if, in
accordance with division (C) of section 2317.02 of the Revised
Code, the cleric could not testify with respect to that
communication in a civil or criminal proceeding.
(c) The penitent in a cleric-penitent relationship described
in division (A)(4)(b) of this section is deemed to have waived any
testimonial privilege under division (C) of section 2317.02 of the
Revised Code with respect to any communication the cleric receives
from the penitent in that cleric-penitent relationship, and the
cleric shall make a report pursuant to division (A)(4)(a) of this
section with respect to that communication, if all of the
following apply:
(i) The penitent, at the time of the communication, is either
a child under eighteen years of age or a mentally retarded,
developmentally disabled, or physically impaired person under
twenty-one years of age.
(ii) The cleric knows, or has reasonable cause to believe
based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar
position to believe, as a result of the communication or any
observations made during that communication, the penitent has
suffered or faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental
wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that
reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the penitent.
(iii) The abuse or neglect does not arise out of the
penitent's attempt to have an abortion performed upon a child
under eighteen years of age or upon a mentally retarded,
developmentally disabled, or physically impaired person under
twenty-one years of age without the notification of her parents,
guardian, or custodian in accordance with section 2151.85 of the
Revised Code.
(d) Divisions (A)(4)(a) and (c) of this section do not apply
in a cleric-penitent relationship when the disclosure of any
communication the cleric receives from the penitent is in
violation of the sacred trust.
(e) As used in divisions (A)(1) and (4) of this section,
"cleric" and "sacred trust" have the same meanings as in section
2317.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) Anyone who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect
based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in similar
circumstances to suspect, that a child under eighteen years of age
or a mentally retarded, developmentally disabled, or physically
impaired person under twenty-one years of age has suffered or
faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental wound, injury,
disability, or other condition of a nature that reasonably
indicates abuse or neglect of the child may report or cause
reports to be made of that knowledge or reasonable cause to
suspect to the entity or persons specified in this division.
Except as provided in section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, a
person making a report or causing a report to be made under this
division shall make it or cause it to be made to the public
children services agency or to a municipal or county peace
officer. In the circumstances described in section 5120.173 of the
Revised Code, a person making a report or causing a report to be
made under this division shall make it or cause it to be made to
the entity specified in that section.
(C) Any report made pursuant to division (A) or (B) of this
section shall be made forthwith either by telephone or in person
and shall be followed by a written report, if requested by the
receiving agency or officer. The written report shall contain:
(1) The names and addresses of the child and the child's
parents or the person or persons having custody of the child, if
known;
(2) The child's age and the nature and extent of the child's
injuries, abuse, or neglect that is known or reasonably suspected
or believed, as applicable, to have occurred or of the threat of
injury, abuse, or neglect that is known or reasonably suspected or
believed, as applicable, to exist, including any evidence of
previous injuries, abuse, or neglect;
(3) Any other information that might be helpful in
establishing the cause of the injury, abuse, or neglect that is
known or reasonably suspected or believed, as applicable, to have
occurred or of the threat of injury, abuse, or neglect that is
known or reasonably suspected or believed, as applicable, to
exist.
Any person, who is required by division (A) of this section
to report child abuse or child neglect that is known or reasonably
suspected or believed to have occurred, may take or cause to be
taken color photographs of areas of trauma visible on a child and,
if medically indicated, cause to be performed radiological
examinations of the child.
(D) As used in this division, "children's advocacy center"
and "sexual abuse of a child" have the same meanings as in section
2151.425 of the Revised Code.
(1) When a municipal or county peace officer receives a
report concerning the possible abuse or neglect of a child or the
possible threat of abuse or neglect of a child, upon receipt of
the report, the municipal or county peace officer who receives the
report shall refer the report to the appropriate public children
services agency.
(2) When a public children services agency receives a report
pursuant to this division or division (A) or (B) of this section,
upon receipt of the report, the public children services agency
shall do both of the following:
(a) Comply with section 2151.422 of the Revised Code;
(b) If the county served by the agency is also served by a
children's advocacy center and the report alleges sexual abuse of
a child or another type of abuse of a child that is specified in
the memorandum of understanding that creates the center as being
within the center's jurisdiction, comply regarding the report with
the protocol and procedures for referrals and investigations, with
the coordinating activities, and with the authority or
responsibility for performing or providing functions, activities,
and services stipulated in the interagency agreement entered into
under section 2151.428 of the Revised Code relative to that
center.
(E) No township, municipal, or county peace officer shall
remove a child about whom a report is made pursuant to this
section from the child's parents, stepparents, or guardian or any
other persons having custody of the child without consultation
with the public children services agency, unless, in the judgment
of the officer, and, if the report was made by physician, the
physician, immediate removal is considered essential to protect
the child from further abuse or neglect. The agency that must be
consulted shall be the agency conducting the investigation of the
report as determined pursuant to section 2151.422 of the Revised
Code.
(F)(1) Except as provided in section 2151.422 of the Revised
Code or in an interagency agreement entered into under section
2151.428 of the Revised Code that applies to the particular
report, the public children services agency shall investigate,
within twenty-four hours, each report of child abuse or child
neglect that is known or reasonably suspected or believed to have
occurred and of a threat of child abuse or child neglect that is
known or reasonably suspected or believed to exist that is
referred to it under this section to determine the circumstances
surrounding the injuries, abuse, or neglect or the threat of
injury, abuse, or neglect, the cause of the injuries, abuse,
neglect, or threat, and the person or persons responsible. The
investigation shall be made in cooperation with the law
enforcement agency and in accordance with the memorandum of
understanding prepared under division (J) of this section. A
representative of the public children services agency shall, at
the time of initial contact with the person subject to the
investigation, inform the person of the specific complaints or
allegations made against the person. The information shall be
given in a manner that is consistent with division (H)(1) of this
section and protects the rights of the person making the report
under this section.
A failure to make the investigation in accordance with the
memorandum is not grounds for, and shall not result in, the
dismissal of any charges or complaint arising from the report or
the suppression of any evidence obtained as a result of the report
and does not give, and shall not be construed as giving, any
rights or any grounds for appeal or post-conviction relief to any
person. The public children services agency shall report each case
to the uniform statewide automated child welfare information
system that the department of job and family services shall
maintain in accordance with section 5101.13 of the Revised Code.
The public children services agency shall submit a report of its
investigation, in writing, to the law enforcement agency.
(2) The public children services agency shall make any
recommendations to the county prosecuting attorney or city
director of law that it considers necessary to protect any
children that are brought to its attention.
(G)(1)(a) Except as provided in division (H)(3) of this
section, anyone or any hospital, institution, school, health
department, or agency participating in the making of reports under
division (A) of this section, anyone or any hospital, institution,
school, health department, or agency participating in good faith
in the making of reports under division (B) of this section, and
anyone participating in good faith in a judicial proceeding
resulting from the reports, shall be immune from any civil or
criminal liability for injury, death, or loss to person or
property that otherwise might be incurred or imposed as a result
of the making of the reports or the participation in the judicial
proceeding.
(b) Notwithstanding section 4731.22 of the Revised Code, the
physician-patient privilege shall not be a ground for excluding
evidence regarding a child's injuries, abuse, or neglect, or the
cause of the injuries, abuse, or neglect in any judicial
proceeding resulting from a report submitted pursuant to this
section.
(2) In any civil or criminal action or proceeding in which it
is alleged and proved that participation in the making of a report
under this section was not in good faith or participation in a
judicial proceeding resulting from a report made under this
section was not in good faith, the court shall award the
prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs and, if a
civil action or proceeding is voluntarily dismissed, may award
reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the party against whom the
civil action or proceeding is brought.
(H)(1) Except as provided in divisions (H)(4) and (N) of this
section, a report made under this section is confidential. The
information provided in a report made pursuant to this section and
the name of the person who made the report shall not be released
for use, and shall not be used, as evidence in any civil action or
proceeding brought against the person who made the report. Nothing
in this division shall preclude the use of reports of other
incidents of known or suspected abuse or neglect in a civil action
or proceeding brought pursuant to division (M) of this section
against a person who is alleged to have violated division (A)(1)
of this section, provided that any information in a report that
would identify the child who is the subject of the report or the
maker of the report, if the maker of the report is not the
defendant or an agent or employee of the defendant, has been
redacted. In a criminal proceeding, the report is admissible in
evidence in accordance with the Rules of Evidence and is subject
to discovery in accordance with the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
(2) No person shall permit or encourage the unauthorized
dissemination of the contents of any report made under this
section.
(3) A person who knowingly makes or causes another person to
make a false report under division (B) of this section that
alleges that any person has committed an act or omission that
resulted in a child being an abused child or a neglected child is
guilty of a violation of section 2921.14 of the Revised Code.
(4) If a report is made pursuant to division (A) or (B) of
this section and the child who is the subject of the report dies
for any reason at any time after the report is made, but before
the child attains eighteen years of age, the public children
services agency or municipal or county peace officer to which the
report was made or referred, on the request of the child fatality
review board, shall submit a summary sheet of information
providing a summary of the report to the review board of the
county in which the deceased child resided at the time of death.
On the request of the review board, the agency or peace officer
may, at its discretion, make the report available to the review
board. If the county served by the public children services agency
is also served by a children's advocacy center and the report of
alleged sexual abuse of a child or another type of abuse of a
child is specified in the memorandum of understanding that creates
the center as being within the center's jurisdiction, the agency
or center shall perform the duties and functions specified in this
division in accordance with the interagency agreement entered into
under section 2151.428 of the Revised Code relative to that
advocacy center.
(5) A public children services agency shall advise a person
alleged to have inflicted abuse or neglect on a child who is the
subject of a report made pursuant to this section, including a
report alleging sexual abuse of a child or another type of abuse
of a child referred to a children's advocacy center pursuant to an
interagency agreement entered into under section 2151.428 of the
Revised Code, in writing of the disposition of the investigation.
The agency shall not provide to the person any information that
identifies the person who made the report, statements of
witnesses, or police or other investigative reports.
(I) Any report that is required by this section, other than a
report that is made to the state highway patrol as described in
section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, shall result in protective
services and emergency supportive services being made available by
the public children services agency on behalf of the children
about whom the report is made, in an effort to prevent further
neglect or abuse, to enhance their welfare, and, whenever
possible, to preserve the family unit intact. The agency required
to provide the services shall be the agency conducting the
investigation of the report pursuant to section 2151.422 of the
Revised Code.
(J)(1) Each public children services agency shall prepare a
memorandum of understanding that is signed by all of the
following:
(a) If there is only one juvenile judge in the county, the
juvenile judge of the county or the juvenile judge's
representative;
(b) If there is more than one juvenile judge in the county, a
juvenile judge or the juvenile judges' representative selected by
the juvenile judges or, if they are unable to do so for any
reason, the juvenile judge who is senior in point of service or
the senior juvenile judge's representative;
(c) The county peace officer;
(d) All chief municipal peace officers within the county;
(e) Other law enforcement officers handling child abuse and
neglect cases in the county;
(f) The prosecuting attorney of the county;
(g) If the public children services agency is not the county
department of job and family services, the county department of
job and family services;
(h) The county humane society;
(i) If the public children services agency participated in
the execution of a memorandum of understanding under section
2151.426 of the Revised Code establishing a children's advocacy
center, each participating member of the children's advocacy
center established by the memorandum.
(2) A memorandum of understanding shall set forth the normal
operating procedure to be employed by all concerned officials in
the execution of their respective responsibilities under this
section and division (C) of section 2919.21, division (B)(1) of
section 2919.22, division (B) of section 2919.23, and section
2919.24 of the Revised Code and shall have as two of its primary
goals the elimination of all unnecessary interviews of children
who are the subject of reports made pursuant to division (A) or
(B) of this section and, when feasible, providing for only one
interview of a child who is the subject of any report made
pursuant to division (A) or (B) of this section. A failure to
follow the procedure set forth in the memorandum by the concerned
officials is not grounds for, and shall not result in, the
dismissal of any charges or complaint arising from any reported
case of abuse or neglect or the suppression of any evidence
obtained as a result of any reported child abuse or child neglect
and does not give, and shall not be construed as giving, any
rights or any grounds for appeal or post-conviction relief to any
person.
(3) A memorandum of understanding shall include all of the
following:
(a) The roles and responsibilities for handling emergency and
nonemergency cases of abuse and neglect;
(b) Standards and procedures to be used in handling and
coordinating investigations of reported cases of child abuse and
reported cases of child neglect, methods to be used in
interviewing the child who is the subject of the report and who
allegedly was abused or neglected, and standards and procedures
addressing the categories of persons who may interview the child
who is the subject of the report and who allegedly was abused or
neglected.
(4) If a public children services agency participated in the
execution of a memorandum of understanding under section 2151.426
of the Revised Code establishing a children's advocacy center, the
agency shall incorporate the contents of that memorandum in the
memorandum prepared pursuant to this section.
(5) The clerk of the court of common pleas in the county may
sign the memorandum of understanding prepared under division
(J)(1) of this section. If the clerk signs the memorandum of
understanding, the clerk shall execute all relevant
responsibilities as required of officials specified in the
memorandum.
(K)(1) Except as provided in division (K)(4) of this section,
a person who is required to make a report pursuant to division (A)
of this section may make a reasonable number of requests of the
public children services agency that receives or is referred the
report, or of the children's advocacy center that is referred the
report if the report is referred to a children's advocacy center
pursuant to an interagency agreement entered into under section
2151.428 of the Revised Code, to be provided with the following
information:
(a) Whether the agency or center has initiated an
investigation of the report;
(b) Whether the agency or center is continuing to investigate
the report;
(c) Whether the agency or center is otherwise involved with
the child who is the subject of the report;
(d) The general status of the health and safety of the child
who is the subject of the report;
(e) Whether the report has resulted in the filing of a
complaint in juvenile court or of criminal charges in another
court.
(2) A person may request the information specified in
division (K)(1) of this section only if, at the time the report is
made, the person's name, address, and telephone number are
provided to the person who receives the report.
When a municipal or county peace officer or employee of a
public children services agency receives a report pursuant to
division (A) or (B) of this section the recipient of the report
shall inform the person of the right to request the information
described in division (K)(1) of this section. The recipient of the
report shall include in the initial child abuse or child neglect
report that the person making the report was so informed and, if
provided at the time of the making of the report, shall include
the person's name, address, and telephone number in the report.
Each request is subject to verification of the identity of
the person making the report. If that person's identity is
verified, the agency shall provide the person with the information
described in division (K)(1) of this section a reasonable number
of times, except that the agency shall not disclose any
confidential information regarding the child who is the subject of
the report other than the information described in those
divisions.
(3) A request made pursuant to division (K)(1) of this
section is not a substitute for any report required to be made
pursuant to division (A) of this section.
(4) If an agency other than the agency that received or was
referred the report is conducting the investigation of the report
pursuant to section 2151.422 of the Revised Code, the agency
conducting the investigation shall comply with the requirements of
division (K) of this section.
(L) The director of job and family services shall adopt rules
in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement
this section. The department of job and family services may enter
into a plan of cooperation with any other governmental entity to
aid in ensuring that children are protected from abuse and
neglect. The department shall make recommendations to the attorney
general that the department determines are necessary to protect
children from child abuse and child neglect.
(M) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is liable
for compensatory and exemplary damages to the child who would have
been the subject of the report that was not made. A person who
brings a civil action or proceeding pursuant to this division
against a person who is alleged to have violated division (A)(1)
of this section may use in the action or proceeding reports of
other incidents of known or suspected abuse or neglect, provided
that any information in a report that would identify the child who
is the subject of the report or the maker of the report, if the
maker is not the defendant or an agent or employee of the
defendant, has been redacted.
(N)(1) As used in this division:
(a) "Out-of-home care" includes a nonchartered nonpublic
school if the alleged child abuse or child neglect, or alleged
threat of child abuse or child neglect, described in a report
received by a public children services agency allegedly occurred
in or involved the nonchartered nonpublic school and the alleged
perpetrator named in the report holds a certificate, permit, or
license issued by the state board of education under section
3301.071 or Chapter 3319. of the Revised Code.
(b) "Administrator, director, or other chief administrative
officer" means the superintendent of the school district if the
out-of-home care entity subject to a report made pursuant to this
section is a school operated by the district.
(2) No later than the end of the day following the day on
which a public children services agency receives a report of
alleged child abuse or child neglect, or a report of an alleged
threat of child abuse or child neglect, that allegedly occurred in
or involved an out-of-home care entity, the agency shall provide
written notice of the allegations contained in and the person
named as the alleged perpetrator in the report to the
administrator, director, or other chief administrative officer of
the out-of-home care entity that is the subject of the report
unless the administrator, director, or other chief administrative
officer is named as an alleged perpetrator in the report. If the
administrator, director, or other chief administrative officer of
an out-of-home care entity is named as an alleged perpetrator in a
report of alleged child abuse or child neglect, or a report of an
alleged threat of child abuse or child neglect, that allegedly
occurred in or involved the out-of-home care entity, the agency
shall provide the written notice to the owner or governing board
of the out-of-home care entity that is the subject of the report.
The agency shall not provide witness statements or police or other
investigative reports.
(3) No later than three days after the day on which a public
children services agency that conducted the investigation as
determined pursuant to section 2151.422 of the Revised Code makes
a disposition of an investigation involving a report of alleged
child abuse or child neglect, or a report of an alleged threat of
child abuse or child neglect, that allegedly occurred in or
involved an out-of-home care entity, the agency shall send written
notice of the disposition of the investigation to the
administrator, director, or other chief administrative officer and
the owner or governing board of the out-of-home care entity. The
agency shall not provide witness statements or police or other
investigative reports.
(O) As used in this section, "investigation" means the public
children services agency's response to an accepted report of child
abuse or neglect through either an alternative response or a
traditional response.
Sec. 5103.02. As used in sections 5103.03 to 5103.17 of the
Revised Code:
(A)(1) "Association" or "institution" includes all of the
following:
(a) Any incorporated or unincorporated organization, society,
association, or agency, public or private, that receives or cares
for children for two or more consecutive weeks;
(b) Any individual, including the operator of a foster home,
who, for hire, gain, or reward, receives or cares for children for
two or more consecutive weeks, unless the individual is related to
them by blood or marriage;
(c) Any individual not in the regular employ of a court, or
of an institution or association certified in accordance with
section 5103.03 of the Revised Code, who in any manner becomes a
party to the placing of children in foster homes, unless the
individual is related to such children by blood or marriage or is
the appointed guardian of such children.
(2) "Association" or "institution" does not include any of
the following:
(a) Any organization, society, association, school, agency,
child guidance center, detention or rehabilitation facility, or
children's clinic licensed, regulated, approved, operated under
the direction of, or otherwise certified by the department of
education, a local board of education, the department of youth
services, the department of mental health and addiction services,
or the department of developmental disabilities;
(b) Any individual who provides care for only a single-family
group, placed there by their parents or other relative having
custody;
(c) A private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp.
(B) "Family foster home" means a foster home that is not a
specialized foster home.
(C) "Foster caregiver" means a person holding a valid foster
home certificate issued under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code.
(D) "Foster home" means a private residence in which children
are received apart from their parents, guardian, or legal
custodian, by an individual reimbursed for providing the children
nonsecure care, supervision, or training twenty-four hours a day.
"Foster home" does not include care provided for a child in the
home of a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or legal
custodian while the parent, guardian, or legal custodian is
temporarily away. Family foster homes and specialized foster homes
are types of foster homes.
(E) "Medically fragile foster home" means a foster home that
provides specialized medical services designed to meet the needs
of children with intensive health care needs who meet all of the
following criteria:
(1) Under rules adopted by the medicaid director governing
medicaid payments for long-term care services, the children
require a skilled level of care.
(2) The children require the services of a doctor of medicine
or osteopathic medicine at least once a week due to the
instability of their medical conditions.
(3) The children require the services of a registered nurse
on a daily basis.
(4) The children are at risk of institutionalization in a
hospital, skilled nursing facility, or intermediate care facility
for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
(F) "Private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp" means a
structured, alternative residential setting for children who are
experiencing emotional, behavioral, moral, social, or learning
difficulties at home or school in which all of the following are
the case:
(1) The children spend the majority of their time, including
overnight, either outdoors or in a primitive structure.
(2) The children have been placed there by their parents or
another relative having custody.
(3) The camp accepts no public funds for use in its
operations.
(G) "Recommending agency" means a public children services
agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial
agency that recommends that the department of job and family
services take any of the following actions under section 5103.03
of the Revised Code regarding a foster home:
(4) Deny renewal of a certificate;
(5) Revoke a certificate.
(G)(H) "Specialized foster home" means a medically fragile
foster home or a treatment foster home.
(H)(I) "Treatment foster home" means a foster home that
incorporates special rehabilitative services designed to treat the
specific needs of the children received in the foster home and
that receives and cares for children who are emotionally or
behaviorally disturbed, chemically dependent, mentally retarded,
developmentally disabled, or who otherwise have exceptional needs.
Sec. 5103.50. (A) As used in this section and sections
5103.51 to 5103.55 of the Revised Code, "private, nonprofit
therapeutic wilderness camp" has the same meaning as in section
5103.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) The director of job and family services shall issue a
license to a private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp that
meets the minimum standards for such camps specified in division
(C) of this section and applies to the director for a license on a
form prescribed by the director.
(C) Both of the following apply as the minimum standards to
be met by a private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp:
(1) The camp shall develop and implement a written policy
that establishes all of the following:
(a) Standards for hiring, training, and supervising staff;
(b) Standards for behavioral intervention, including
standards prohibiting the use of prone restraint and governing the
use of other restraints or isolation;
(c) Standards for recordkeeping, including specifying
information that must be included in each child's record, who may
access records, confidentiality, maintenance, security, and
disposal of records;
(d) A procedure for handling complaints about the camp from
the children attending the camp, their families, staff, and the
public;
(e) Standards for emergency and disaster preparedness,
including procedures for emergency evacuation and standards
requiring that a method of emergency communication be accessible
at all times;
(f) Standards that ensure the protection of children's civil
rights;
(g) Standards for the admission and discharge of children
attending the camp, including standards for emergency discharge.
(2) The camp shall cooperate with any request from the
director for an inspection or for access to records or written
policies of the camp.
Sec. 5103.51. A license issued under section 5103.50 of the
Revised Code is valid for five years, unless earlier revoked by
the director of job and family services. The license may be
renewed.
Each private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp seeking
license renewal shall submit to the director an application for
license renewal on such form as the director prescribes. If the
camp meets the minimum standards specified in section 5103.50 of
the Revised Code, the director shall renew the license.
Sec. 5103.52. (A) The director of job and family services
may inspect a private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp at
any time. The director may delegate this authority to a county
department of job and family services.
(B) The director may request access to the camp's records or
to the written policies adopted by the camp pursuant to section
5103.50 of the Revised Code. The director may delegate this
authority to a county department of job and family services.
Sec. 5103.53. A private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness
camp shall not operate without a license issued under section
5103.50 of the Revised Code. If the director of job and family
services determines that a camp is operating without a license,
the director may petition the court of common pleas in the county
in which the camp is located for an order enjoining its operation.
The court shall grant injunctive relief upon a showing that the
camp is operating without a license.
Sec. 5103.54. If a licensed private, nonprofit therapeutic
wilderness camp fails to meet the minimum standards set forth in
section 5103.50 of the Revised Code, the director of job and
family services shall notify the camp that the director intends to
revoke the license. Unless the violation poses an imminent risk to
the life, health, or safety of one or more children attending the
camp, the director shall give the camp ninety days to meet the
minimum standards. If the violation poses an imminent risk to the
life, health, or safety of one or more children attending the camp
or the camp fails to meet the minimum standards within ninety days
of receipt of the notice of revocation, the director shall revoke
the license. An order of revocation under this section may be
appealed in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5103.55. A parent of a child attending a private,
nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp is not relieved of the
parent's obligations regarding compulsory school attendance
pursuant to section 3321.04 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 2151.011, 2151.421, and
5103.02 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. The amendments to divisions (B)(49) and (50) of
section 2151.011 of the Revised Code by Am. Sub. H.B. 59 of the
130th General Assembly, which appear in this act and are to take
effect on July 1, 2014, are not accelerated by their inclusion in
this act.
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