BACKGROUND 

Ohio Administrative Code 5101:2-9-23 Notification and Documentation of Critical Incidents requires critical incidents for youth placed in Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) certified residential facilities be reported to the person or agency holding custody within twenty-four hours of the incident. An electronic process for gathering, reporting, and reviewing critical incidents has been created to streamline reporting and to ensure placing agencies have information necessary to ensure safety. The Ohio Certification for Agencies and Families (OCAF) system has developed the functionality to allow for electronic reporting of critical incidents.

PROCEDURE

Beginning July 7, 2024, all critical incidents are to be submitted through OCAF. When a critical incident occurs, as outlined in OAC 5101:2-9-23, involving a youth placed within a group home or children’s residential center, the facility is to notify the custodial person or agency within twenty-four hours of the incident. The critical incident report is to be completed in OCAF, which will generate email notification to DCY individual(s) identified in OCAF and to the custodial agency or Title IV-E agency of the child identified in the critical incident.

TRANSITION 

On July 7, 2024, all critical incident reports will be required to be entered into OCAF. The system enhancements are available now. The transition for all facilities to enter new critical incident reports into OCAF will begin on July 7, 2024; however, the system changes are available and may be used now.  

OCAF Information  

Information has been located on the Continuous Certification and OCAF SharePoint site located  HERE to assist with the following: 

• OCAF Access Guide
• Critical Incident Reporting User Guide
• Critical Incident Reporting Training Videos 
• OCAF Agency User Guide 

TRAINING AND SUPPORT

DCY will host a TEAMS Webinar on July 2, 2024 at 1:00 pm to assist certified agencies in the use of OCAF and provide guidance on entering critical incidents into the system. Please use the following LINK to register for this event.

OAC AMENDMENT 

Rule 5101:2-9-23 will be amended to require entry of the critical incident reports into OCAF. The rule will also be amended to remove the option to use a facility equivalent form in the reporting of critical incidents. 

INSTRUCTIONS

The following chart indicates what materials should be removed from the Family, Children and Adult Services Manual (FCASM) and what materials are to be inserted in the FCASM.