A crisis fund has been created by the state of Ohio that will help the parents of severely disabled children. The fund will be created under the biennial budget for the state and it will help children who are viewed as multisystem children, or those who are in danger of entering the juvenile justice system or the child protective system because of their disabilities.
The fund will be supported by money legislatures set aside for the next two years, which totals $10 million. The money is federal welfare money and the County Family and Children First Councils will be responsible for creating plans to distribute the funds.
The provision included in the budget also calls for the creation of a data collection system that helps determine the number of youth involved in multiple child services programs. The system is responsible for monitoring trends within the programs and recording the outcomes.
Advocates of these programs and the funding claim that more than half the youth in the programs are not there because of neglect or abuse, but because parents had to sign over their parental rights due to their disabilities.
One longtime advocate said the following when the announcement was made: “On behalf of the youth and families who have taken out a second mortgage on their home, sold a second car and are working two jobs each to pay for service for their multi-need children.”
Advocates had hoped for $30 million in funding, but they know the $10 million is a great start.
An experienced family law attorney in Columbus can answer all of your questions surrounding the new crisis fund in Ohio and how you can benefit from it.
Source: The Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio creates crisis fund to help parents keep custody of severely disabled kids,” Rita Price, July 09, 2017