Governor To Release Proposal On Licensed Caregiver Issue

Governor Mike DeWine says he’s close to releasing a proposal for dealing with an issue related to approved relatives caring for children taken from their parents even when the relatives aren’t licensed caregivers.

Ohio has been under pressure from child advocates to follow a 2017 federal court ruling ordering equality in payments to non-licensed relatives and to relatives who become licensed.

The issue has taken on new significance because the opioid crisis has seen a huge increase in the number of children taken from homes because of parents’ or guardians’ addictions.