Ohio Ombudsperson

About this resource

On February 28, 2022, Governor DeWine signed Amended House Bill 4 into law, creating the Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office. The office shall investigate and resolve concerns made by or on behalf of children and families involved with public children services agencies, Title IV-E agencies, or private provider agencies that administer or oversee foster care or placement services for the children services system. The office shall ensure the independent and impartial review of youth, family, and community complaints or concerns.

You Spoke. We Listened.

As a result of feedback from foster youth from around Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine’s Children Services Transformation Advisory Council made 37 recommendations to reform Ohio’s children services system.

These recommendations were announced in November 2020. On May 31, 2022, the Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office was operational and ready to receive, review, and investigate complaints and make referrals for families and youth.

Another recommendation was the creation of Bills of Rights for foster youth and for resource families. These rights are spelled out in Ohio Administrative Code rules 5101:2-5-35 and 5101:2-42-20. The Youth and Family Ombudsmen’s Office was created to help make sure these rights are upheld.