H.B.
289
126th General Assembly
(As Reported by H. Health)
Rep. White
BILL SUMMARY
· Establishes new duties for the Ohio Family and Children First Cabinet Council and family and children first county councils.
· Creates the Ohio Family and Children First Cabinet Council Advisory Board.
CONTENT AND OPERATION
(R.C. 121.37(B))
Current law provides for the Ohio Family and Children First Cabinet Council.[1] The stated purpose of the Council is to help families seeking government services by streamlining and coordinating services for families seeking assistance for their children. The Council must provide for all of the following:
(1) Reviews of service and treatment plans for children when such reviews are requested;
(2) Assistance to meet the needs of children referred by the county family and children first councils, as the Council determines is necessary;
(3) Monitoring and supervision of a system for infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities or delays and their families.
Under the bill, the Council must develop and implement all of the following, in addition to meeting the requirements of current law:
(1) An interagency process to select the indicators that will be used to measure progress toward increasing child well-being and update the indicators on an annual basis;[2]
(2) An interagency system to offer guidance and monitor progress toward increasing child well-being in the state and in each county;
(3) An annual plan that identifies state-level agency efforts taken to ensure progress toward increasing child well-being;
(4) An annual report on the status of efforts to increase child well-being to be submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly and made available to any other person on request.
(R.C. 121.37(C)(2))
Current law requires each board of county commissioners to establish a family and children first county council. The county council must provide for all of the following:
(1) Referrals to the Cabinet Council of those children for whom the county council cannot provide adequate services;
(2) Development and implementation of a process that annually evaluates and prioritizes services, fills service gaps where possible, and invents new approaches to achieve better results for families and children;
(3) Participation in the development of a county-wide system for infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities or delays and their families;
(4) Maintenance of an accountability system to monitor the county council's progress in achieving results for families and children;
(5) Establishment of a mechanism to ensure ongoing input from a broad representation of families who are receiving services within the county system.
Under the bill, county councils must develop and implement the following in addition to meeting the requirements of current law:[3]
(1) An interagency process to establish local indicators and monitor the county's progress toward increasing child well-being;
(2) An interagency process to identify local priorities to increase child well-being;[4]
(3) An annual plan that identifies the county's interagency efforts to increase child well-being;
(4) An annual report on the status of efforts by the county to increase child well-being to be submitted to the county's board of county commissioners and the Cabinet Council. This report must be made available to any other person on request.
(R.C. 121.374)
The bill creates the Ohio Family and Children First Cabinet Council Advisory Board to provide guidance to the Council regarding efforts to meet Ohio's commitments to child well-being. Under the bill, the Governor is required to appoint one member from the Governor's office to serve on the Board. The Speaker of the House of Representatives must appoint two members of the House of Representatives, each from a different political party. The President of the Senate must appoint two members of the Senate, each from a different political party. The Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate are each to appoint three members of the general public who must be persons who use a service provided by an agency represented on a family and children first county council.
Each member of the Board is required to serve until a replacement member is appointed. Members of the Board are not to be compensated.
HISTORY
|
ACTION |
DATE |
JOURNAL ENTRY |
|
|
|
|
|
Introduced |
06-02-05 |
p. 898 |
|
Reported, H. Health |
11-03-05 |
pp. 1819-1820 |
H0289-RH-126.doc/jc
[1] The Council is composed of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Directors of Youth Services, Job and Family Services, Mental Health, Health, Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and Budget and Management.
[2] The indicators must focus on expectant parents and newborns thriving; infants and toddlers thriving; children being ready for school; children and youth succeeding in school; youth choosing healthy behaviors; and youth successfully transitioning into adulthood.
[3] Certain duties provided in the bill may require the amendment of duties under current law. For example, current law requires the county council to maintain a system to monitor the county's progress in achieving results for families and children. The bill requires the county council to develop a process to monitor the county's progress toward increasing child well-being, which may overlap or duplicate what current law requires.
[4] The local priorities must focus on expectant parents and newborns thriving; infants and toddlers thriving; children being ready for school; children and youth succeeding in school; youth choosing healthy behaviors; and youth successfully transitioning into adulthood and must take into account the indicators established by the Cabinet Council.