Ohio Senate committee approves child welfare bill, leaves out money to fund it

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By: Susan Tebben – Ohio Capital Journal

The Ohio Senate Finance Committee approved long-awaited changes to child welfare processes and agencies in the state, but the bill no longer includes appropriations to fund provisions in the measure.

Ohio House Bill 7 moved on from the committee on Tuesday, and may see a full Ohio Senate vote on Wednesday. The session on Wednesday could be one of the last of the year, meaning if the bill didn’t see passage, it would need to be reintroduced as new legislation in the new year.

The bill would also need renewed approval from the Ohio House before the end of the year, since the Senate committee made changes to the original bill. Committee members and advocates are hoping some of the funding no longer included in the bill as it is now may end up in next year’s state operating budget.

H.B. 7, a bipartisan-sponsored bill, aims to address child welfare from pregnancy to early childhood education. The bill contains a host of goals, including aims to modernize the state’s use of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition assistance program, a pilot grant program “to assist in the development of comprehensive child care programs like Early Head Start,” the increased use of home visits to boost infant outcomes and bring more resources to address poor infant and maternal mortality rates statewide. The bill even touches on issues like mental health and child homelessness.

According to Danielle Firsich, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio and Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, 13 Ohio counties are classified as “maternal health care deserts,” though the maternal and infant mortality rates are “entirely preventable with affordable, widespread and comprehensive public health services.”

“The most common pregnancy-related deaths include delay or lack of diagnosis, failure to screen, inadequate assessment for risk and inadequately trained/unavailable personnel,” Firsich wrote in testimony to the committee, citing Ohio Department of Health data.

The original bill asked for an appropriation of $34 million over two fiscal years, but appropriations were left out of the bill when it was passed by the finance committee. Committee Chair Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, said discussions about funding are “better left” to discussions next year, when the overall state operating budget will see its biannual approval.

Dolan said there were “no subjective decisions made” on the programs in the bill, just a re-tailoring that he said will make it clear that agencies who provide new strategies or corrections related to child care and health will need to approach the legislature with cost proposals, instead of the funding coming ahead of time.

“There’s no mandate that we are going to be responsible for paying in this bill,” Dolan said.

Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson, D-Toledo, also said a provision that would have established a program with the state Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to provide doula services to inmates in a prison nursery program was also removed. Hicks-Hudson said that was a step back from an opportunity “to move the needle” on progress when it comes to infant and maternal outcomes.

Amendments made to the bill during Tuesday’s committee hearing also removed the ability for tele-health home visits for those participating in the Help Me Grow program, a program through the Ohio Department of Children & Youth that provides services like home visits, developmental screenings and resource connections.

In the program’s 2024 annual report, the ODCY reported more than 51,000 system referrals for home visits in the that fiscal year, and more than 45,000 system referrals for early intervention to meet developmental milestones through the Help Me Grow program. Home visit referrals were up 2.5% from the previous year, with 51% of those receiving home referrals identifying as Black/African American, according to the annual report.

Referrals for early intervention saw increases, particular in referrals from early care or child care programs (up 21%) and from WIC (up 17%).

But Dolan said there are “concerns” that the Help Me Grow program is not working, something the legislature may look into improving in the new year.

Despite the lack of appropriations, proponents of the bill who testified on Tuesday said the measure still represents a step forward in filling gaps and responding to the needs of Ohio’s children and families.

Danielle Tong, executive director of CelebrateOne, a Columbus initiative to reduce infant mortality and improve conditions for families, said she knows all too well the costs around stays in the neonatal ICU, and the educational delays that can impact a child, as the mother of a child born premature eight years ago.

“I’m going through that right now with my own son, and I have resources to support that, but what about the Ohioans who don’t,” she asked the committee.

She and CelebrateOne see H.B. 7 as a “crucial” bill for “supporting and elevating the health of the families that look to us and our partners for health.”

The collaborative aspect of the bill is a progressive one, according to Caitlin Feldman, policy director for the child welfare advocacy group Groundwork Ohio.

“By encouraging agencies to work together more effectively, this bill strengthens the connections between comprehensive screening and service referrals, reducing the risk of families falling through the cracks,” Feldman said.

The bill has the potential to address challenges, despite the fact that the approach of the budget year means “many of the transformative investments included in the original bill are not possible at this time.”

Feldman and others like the Ohio Psychological Association praised the provisions that direct the Ohio Department of Medicaid to “explore and establish reimbursement pathways” for mental health needs in Ohio’s youngest children.

“This represents a critical step toward addressing a long-standing gap in how our systems recognize and respond to the mental health needs of infants, toddlers and their families,” Feldman said.