Ohio Lawmakers Address Dayton-Area Group Home Issues, Mandate More State Oversight

Group homes for foster children will face additional reporting requirements and state oversight after a bill designed to address problems in Montgomery County cleared the Statehouse this week.

Group homes have been a growing problem in the county. A recent Dayton Daily News analysis found that Montgomery County is now how to more than one-third of all group homes in the state, which accounted for 3,000 calls for service received by Dayton police in 2023.

As such, getting regulations on the books before the 135th General Assembly formally expires in early January was a priority for Dayton-area Reps. Andrea White, R-Kettering, and Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp, who had elements of their House Bill 583 rolled into House Bill 315, a 400-page omnibus bill that was the final official action of the 135th General Assembly. The resulting legislation sets up reporting requirements to the state when a child under the care of a group home receives emergency medical care or when law enforcement officers have investigative interactions with the foster child. It also mandates that, when a delinquent child gets placed in a group home, the group home gets notification for how that child came to be adjudicated delinquent.