This letter transmits amendments to the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rules which address the Public Children Services Agency (PCSA) requirements for the completion of assessments of safety and risk, safety plan procedures, and reunification assessments. These rules have been amended to provide clarity to PCSAs charged with the child protective services function. All of the rules contained herein have been through the Partnership for Ohio's Families (PFOF) Rule Review initiative which included the newly developed Microburst on Rule Review Policy Hearings (MORRPH) initiative. The rules are a product of the collaborative partnership between the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and PCSAs. The presenting rule amendments were developed by ODJFS in partnership with and approved by the Child Protective Services Rule Review Team. The following OAC rules have been amended: 5101:2-37-01, 5101:2-37-02, 5101:2-37-03, 5101:2-37-04. These rules will become effective July 5, 2020.

The following is a brief explanation of the changes to each rule:

OAC Rule 5101:2-37-01 entitled PCSA Requirements for Completing the Safety Assessment sets forth the PCSA requirements in assessing the safety of children when responding to abuse, neglect, and dependency reports. A clarification has been made that the completion of a safety assessment does not apply to children in the permanent custody of a PCSA. The form JFS 1401 is not up to date and does not reflect the current CAPMIS safety assessment. The form number has been removed from the rule to encourage PCSAs to utilize the SACWIS system. Requirements addressing the completion of the safety assessment have been streamlined. Time frames to complete the safety assessment have remained the same but the time to have them approved by a supervisor and recorded in SACWIS have been developed. Grammatical changes, restructuring the order of paragraphs and amendments to requirements for consistent understanding have occurred throughout the rule.

OAC Rule 5101:2-37-02 entitled PCSA Requirements for Completing the Safety Plan sets forth the PCSA requirements in developing a safety plan for a child determined to be in immediate danger of serious harm. The requirements regarding obtaining signatures and monitoring a safety plan have been amended for clarity. A provision has been added to comply with the federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) requirements. Requirements addressing absent parent situations (primarily due to the increase in substance abuse involved cases), verbal authorizations, extension to obtain a signature, and waiving a signature have been included. Monitoring requirements have been amended to allow caseworkers more time to spend with the family assessing safety. Monitoring requirements have been amended to clarify when a PCSA should consider alternative safety interventions. Two extra days were allotted to record the safety plan in SACWIS to make it consistent with other rules in this section. Grammatical changes, restructuring the order of paragraphs, and consistency addressing the requirements and expectations have occurred throughout.

OAC Rule 5101:2-37-03 entitled PCSA Requirements for Completing the Family Assessment sets forth the PCSA requirements in assessing safety and risk of families when responding to intra-familial abuse, neglect, and dependency reports. Alternative response language has been removed from this rule as one family assessment is completed for both alternative and traditional response cases. Requirements to complete assessments involving an individual residing in the home that has regular contact with the child were included. A paragraph was included to clarify the expectation that plans of safe care on CARA involved cases will be documented upon case closure in the family assessment. Grammatical changes, restructuring the order of paragraphs, and amendments to requirements for consistent understanding have occurred throughout the rule. References to obsolete form numbers have been removed and replaced with the proper name of each tool.

OAC Rule 5101:2-37-04 entitled PCSA Requirements for Completing the Reunification Assessment sets forth the PCSA requirements to reassess safety and risk of children who were determined to be in immediate danger of serious harm. Requirements were amended to simplify when a reunification assessment is required to be completed. The criteria that requires the completion of a reunification assessment have been removed as it was simply outlining the existing CAPMIS tool. Grammatical changes, restructuring the order of paragraphs, and amendments to requirements for consistent understanding have occurred throughout the rule.

INSTRUCTIONS: The following chart indicates the materials that should be removed from the Family, Children and Adult Services Manual (FCASM) and the materials that should be added.