(A) As used in this section and section5103.131of the Revised Code:
(1)(a) "Children's crisis care facility" means a facility that has as its primary purpose the provision of residential and other care to either or both of the following:
(i) One or more preteens voluntarily placed in the facility by the preteen's parent or other caretaker who is facing a crisis that causes the parent or other caretaker to seek temporary care for the preteen and referral for support services;
(ii) One or more preteens placed in the facility by a public children services agency or private child placing agency that has legal custody or permanent custody of the preteen and determines that an emergency situation exists necessitating the preteen's placement in the facility rather than an institution certified under section5103.03of the Revised Code or elsewhere.
(b) "Children's crisis care facility" does not include any of the following:
(i) Any organization, society, association, school, agency, child guidance center, detention or rehabilitation facility, or children's clinic licensed, regulated, approved, operated under the direction of, or otherwise certified by the department of education and workforce, a local board of education, the department of youth services, the department of mental health and addiction services, or the department of developmental disabilities;
(ii) Any individual who provides care for only a single-family group, placed there by their parents or other relative having custody;
(iii) Any residential infant care center, as an entity deemed a residential infant care center under section5103.602of the Revised Code shall no longer be licensed as a children's crisis care center.
(2) "Legal custody" and "permanent custody" have the same meanings as in section2151.011of the Revised Code.
(3) "Pediatric medical service" means medical service required to be provided by, or with oversight from, a licensed medical professional, including prescribing medication, administering rectal or intravenous medication, and outpatient laboratory service, and providing for sick visits, on-site well child exams, and children assisted by medical technology.
(4) "Preteen" means an individual under thirteen years of age.
(B) No person shall operate a children's crisis care facility or hold a children's crisis care facility out as a certified children's crisis care facility unless there is a valid children's crisis care facility certificate issued under this section for the facility.
(C)(1) A person seeking to operate a children's crisis care facility shall apply to the director of children and youth to obtain a certificate for the facility.
(2)(a) The director shall certify the person's children's crisis care facility if the facility meets all of the certification standards established in rules adopted under division (H) of this section and the person complies with all of the rules governing the certification of children's crisis care facilities adopted under that division. The issuance of a children's crisis care facility certificate does not exempt the facility from a requirement to obtain another certificate or license mandated by law.
(b) The director shall not issue a waiver to a person for compliance with any of the requirements imposed under this section or any of the rules adopted under division (H) of this section.
(D) No certified children's crisis care facility shall do any of the following:
(1) Provide residential care to a preteen for more than one hundred twenty days in a calendar year;
(2) Provide residential care to a preteen for more than ninety consecutive days, which shall include the aggregate of days spent at different facility locations if a preteen is transferred in accordance with division (E)(4) of this section;
(3) Provide residential care to a preteen for more than fourteen consecutive days if a public children services agency or private child placing agency placed the preteen in the facility;
(4) Fail to comply with section2151.86of the Revised Code.
(E) A certified children's crisis care facility shall do the following:
(1) Employ a licensed social worker, a licensed independent social worker, a licensed professional counselor, or a licensed professional clinical counselor;
(2) Require, if pediatric medical service is provided at the facility, the following for the provision of pediatric medical service:
(a) Medical service to be provided by a qualified, licensed, and insured medical professional;
(b) All staff, volunteers, and interns to comply with the privacy requirements of the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996," 104 Pub. L. No. 191, 110 Stat. 2021, 42 U.S.C. 1320d et seq., as amended;
(c) If a preteen is admitted by the preteen's parent or caretaker and if the preteen requires ongoing medical care following discharge from the facility, a medical professional or licensed social worker to make the medical professional's or social worker's best effort to ensure the parent or caretaker is competent to provide the ongoing care;
(d) The facility to have a dedicated and private enclosed space for the purpose of a medical professional to receive and treat patients and that contains a sink or tub, medical exam table, medical record system, and pediatric medical equipment.
(3) Require, if a preteen is admitted by the preteen's parent or caretaker, the facility's licensed social worker, licensed independent social worker, licensed professional counselor, or licensed professional clinical counselor to make their best efforts to ensure the parent or caretaker is competent in the basic parenting skills needed to care for the preteen;
(4) Require only a transfer summary for the transfer of a preteen from one certified children's crisis care facility location to another, if the facility has more than one location;
(5) Require the facility to have a dedicated and private enclosed space for the purpose of completing required admission paperwork and medical forms;
(6) Require the facility to develop a visitation plan for the preteen's parent or caretaker with the preteen while residential care is being provided, which shall occur during awake hours and not include overnight visits, for the parent or caretaker with the preteen.
(F) A certified children's crisis care facility may do the following:
(1) Count administrative staff, interns, and volunteers toward child staff ratios required under paragraph (G) of rule 5101:2-9-36 of the Administrative Code for up to three hours if the administrative staff, interns, or volunteers meet the following requirements:
(a) Completed training in the mission of the children's crisis care facility;
(b) Completed training pursuant to rule 5101:2-9-03 of the Administrative Code;
(c) Are supervised by facility staff.
(2) Use contracted transportation providers, on whom criminal records checks have been conducted in accordance with section2151.86of the Revised Code, to transport preteens, if such use is necessary for the facility to maintain required child staff ratios.
(G) The director of children and youth may suspend or revoke a children's crisis care facility's certificate pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code if the facility violates or fails to comply with any of the requirements under this section or ceases to meet any of the certification standards established in rules adopted under division (H) of this section or the facility's operator ceases to comply with any of the rules governing the certification of children's crisis care facilities adopted under that division.
(H) The director of children and youth shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for the certification of children's crisis care facilities. The rules shall specify that a certificate shall not be issued to an applicant if the conditions at the children's crisis care facility would jeopardize the health or safety of the preteens placed in the facility.
Last updated October 20, 2025 at 11:57 AM