A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers wants the state to rein in rapidly increasing foster-care placement costs, warning that the current system is pushing county budgets toward the breaking point.
House Bill 984 would direct the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to establish maximum reimbursement rates for foster homes, residential facilities and other placements. The department could review and adjust those rates every two years.
The legislation arrives after Ohio approved $1 million in emergency assistance for the multi-county agency caring for 16 children removed from a Vinton County home earlier this summer.
All 16 children are believed to require substantial medical, developmental or therapeutic assistance. Their case has become a highly visible example of the extraordinary costs facing Ohio’s child-welfare system.
Counties Say the Math No Longer Works
Scioto County Commissioner Scottie Powell joined the bill’s sponsors at the Ohio Statehouse, arguing that county governments cannot continue absorbing unchecked increases.
“What we are facing is an unsolvable math problem,” Powell told The Statehouse News Bureau.
Powell said Scioto County now spends more caring for 197 children than it spent serving 407 children four years earlier.
Counties have legal responsibility for arranging care, but the money comes through a complicated mixture of federal, state and local funding. When a child has serious behavioral, developmental or medical needs, officials may have few appropriate placements from which to choose.
That shortage can leave a county paying whatever rate is necessary to secure safe care.
Bipartisan Bill Seeks Guardrails
The official legislative record for House Bill 984 lists Republican Rep. Justin Pizzulli of Scioto County and Democratic Rep. Darnell Brewer of Cleveland as its primary sponsors.
Brewer said the bill is intended to establish financial controls without preventing children from receiving specialized treatment.
“We are trying to create reasonable guardrails, not barriers,” Brewer said.
Pizzulli wants lawmakers to treat the proposal as an emergency. He pointed to the Vinton County case and the urgency of finding suitable placements for children who allegedly experienced years of severe neglect.
An Associated Press examination of the children’s needs found that Ohio already had a shortage of qualified foster families before the 16 children entered state custody. Some children with complex trauma may require therapeutic foster homes, residential treatment or psychiatric services.
The state previously approved emergency funding for their care, but supporters say counties need a statewide solution instead of relying on emergency requests after costs become overwhelming.
Rate Caps Could Create New Problems
No provider, advocacy organization or lawmaker has formally registered opposition to House Bill 984. The bill remains newly introduced and has not received a public committee hearing.
However, earlier testimony from the Public Children Services Association of Ohio illustrates the principal concern that could confront the proposal: a maximum reimbursement rate does not necessarily reduce what a provider must charge to accept a high-needs child.
In written testimony about Ohio’s child-welfare finances, association executive director Angela Sausser said counties frequently pay above existing provider ceilings because of “high demand, the lack of options, and the complex needs of youth.”
Her organization reported counties lost approximately $7 million in federal reimbursement during one year because necessary placement costs exceeded established ceilings.
That history creates an important distinction. A reimbursement ceiling may limit what government pays, but it will not automatically create additional foster homes, treatment beds, nurses, therapists or specialized staff. If the permitted rate is lower than the real cost of care, counties could still face difficulty finding placements—or be forced to cover the difference without reimbursement.
Ohio’s existing rules already use minimum and maximum foster-care reimbursement ceilings. The Ohio Administrative Code allows the state to publish and revise those limits.
HB 984 would place a more explicit requirement for statewide rate-setting into law.
The Clock Is Working Against It
As of August 20, House Bill 984 remains at the first stage of the legislative process. It has not been reported out of committee, approved by either chamber or sent to the governor.
Lawmakers are on recess until November and have only a limited number of session days remaining before the two-year General Assembly ends in December. Bills that fail to pass before adjournment must generally be introduced again during the next legislative session.
Supporters say the scale of the foster-care crisis justifies moving quickly. The larger debate will be whether Ohio can control prices without making scarce placements even harder to find.
