Text of Statute

(A) As used in the Revised Code:

(1) "Juvenile court" means the division of the court of common pleas or a juvenile court separately and independently created having jurisdiction under this chapter.

(2) "Juvenile judge" means a judge of a court having jurisdiction under this chapter.

(3) "Private child placing agency" means any association, as defined in section 5103.02 of the Revised Code, that is certified pursuant to section 5103.03 of the Revised Code to accept temporary, permanent, or legal custody of children and place the children for either foster care or adoption.

(4) "Private noncustodial agency" means any person, organization, association, or society certified by the department of job and family services that does not accept temporary or permanent legal custody of children, that is privately operated in this state, and that does one or more of the following:

(a) Receives and cares for children for two or more consecutive weeks;

(b) Participates in the placement of children in family foster homes;

(c) Provides adoption services in conjunction with a public children services agency or private child placing agency.

(B) As used in this chapter:

(1) "Adequate parental care" means the provision by a child's parent or parents, guardian, or custodian of adequate food, clothing, and shelter to ensure the child's health and physical safety and the provision by a child's parent or parents of specialized services warranted by the child's physical or mental needs.

(2) "Adult" means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older.

(3) "Agreement for temporary custody" means a voluntary agreement authorized by section 5103.15 of the Revised Code that transfers the temporary custody of a child to a public children services agency or a private child placing agency.

(4) "Babysitting care" means care provided for a child while the parents, guardian, or legal custodian of the child are temporarily away.

(5) "Certified family foster home" means a family foster home operated by persons holding a certificate in force, issued under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code.

(6)(a) "Child" means a person who is under eighteen years of age, except as otherwise provided in divisions (B)(6)(b) to (f) of this section.

(b) Subject to division (B)(6)(c) of this section, any person who violates a federal or state law or municipal ordinance prior to attaining eighteen years of age shall be deemed a "child" irrespective of that person's age at the time the complaint is filed or the hearing on the complaint is held.

(c) Any person who, while under eighteen years of age, commits an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult and who is not taken into custody or apprehended for that act until after the person attains twenty-one years of age is not a child in relation to that act.

(d) Any person whose case is transferred for criminal prosecution pursuant to division (B) or (C) of section 2151.26 of the Revised Code shall after the transfer be deemed not to be a child in the transferred case.

(e) Subject to division (B)(6)(f) of this section, any person whose case is transferred for criminal prosecution pursuant to division (B) or (C) of section 2151.26 of the Revised Code and who subsequently is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony in that case shall after the transfer be deemed not to be a child in any case in which the person is alleged to have committed prior to or subsequent to the transfer an act that would be an offense if committed by an adult. Division (B)(6)(e) of this section applies to a case regardless of whether the prior or subsequent act that is alleged in the case and that would be an offense if committed by an adult allegedly was committed in the same county in which the case was transferred or in another county and regardless of whether the complaint in the case involved was filed in the same county in which the case was transferred or in another county. Division (B)(6)(e) of this section applies to a case that involves an act committed prior to the transfer only when the prior act alleged in the case has not been disposed of by a juvenile court or trial court.

(f) Notwithstanding division (B)(6)(e) of this section, if a person's case is transferred for criminal prosecution pursuant to division (B) or (C) of section 2151.26 of the Revised Code and if the person subsequently is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony in that case, thereafter, the person shall be considered a child solely for the following purposes in relation to any act the person subsequently commits that would be an offense if committed by an adult:

(i) For purposes of the filing of a complaint alleging that the child is a delinquent child for committing the act that would be an offense if committed by an adult;

(ii) For purposes of the juvenile court conducting a hearing under division (B) of section 2151.26 of the Revised Code relative to the complaint described in division (B)(6)(f)(i) of this section to determine whether division (B)(1) of section 2151.26 of the Revised Code applies and requires that the case be transferred for criminal prosecution to the appropriate court having jurisdiction of the offense.

(7) "Child day camp," "child day-care," "child day-care center," "part-time child day-care center," "type A family day-care home," "certified type B family day-care home," "type B home," "administrator of a child day-care center," "administrator of a type A family day-care home," "in-home aide," and "authorized provider" have the same meanings as in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code.

(8) "Child day-care provider" means an individual who is a child-care staff member or administrator of a child day-care center, a type A family day-care home, or a type B family day-care home, or an in-home aide or an individual who is licensed, is regulated, is approved, operates under the direction of, or otherwise is certified by the department of job and family services, department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, or the early childhood programs of the department of education.

(9) "Chronic truant" means any child of compulsory school age who is absent without legitimate excuse for absence from the public school the child is supposed to attend for seven or more consecutive school days, ten or more school days in one school month, or fifteen or more school days in a school year.

(10) "Commit" means to vest custody as ordered by the court.

(11) "Counseling" includes both of the following:

(a) General counseling services performed by a public children services agency or shelter for victims of domestic violence to assist a child, a child's parents, and a child's siblings in alleviating identified problems that may cause or have caused the child to be an abused, neglected, or dependent child.

(b) Psychiatric or psychological therapeutic counseling services provided to correct or alleviate any mental or emotional illness or disorder and performed by a licensed psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, or a person licensed under Chapter 4757 . of the Revised Code to engage in social work or professional counseling.

(12) "Custodian" means a person who has legal custody of a child or a public children services agency or private child placing agency that has permanent, temporary, or legal custody of a child.

(13) "Detention" means the temporary care of children pending court adjudication or disposition, or execution of a court order, in a public or private facility designed to physically restrict the movement and activities of children.

(14) "Developmental disability" has the same meaning as in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.

(15) "Family foster home" means a private residence in which children are received apart from their parents, guardian, or legal custodian by an individual for hire, gain, or reward for nonsecure care, supervision, or training twenty-four hours a day. "Family foster home" does not include babysitting care provided for a child in the home of a person other than the home of the parents, guardian, or legal custodian of the child.

(16) "Foster home" means a family home in which any child is received apart from the child's parents for care, supervision, or training.

(17) "Guardian" means a person, association, or corporation that is granted authority by a probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111 . of the Revised Code to exercise parental rights over a child to the extent provided in the court's order and subject to the residual parental rights of the child's parents.

(18) "Habitual truant" means any child of compulsory school age who is absent without legitimate excuse for absence from the public school the child is supposed to attend for five or more consecutive school days, seven or more school days in one school month, or twelve or more school days in a school year.

(19) "Legal custody" means a legal status that vests in the custodian the right to have physical care and control of the child and to determine where and with whom the child shall live, and the right and duty to protect, train, and discipline the child and to provide the child with food, shelter, education, and medical care, all subject to any residual parental rights, privileges, and responsibilities. An individual granted legal custody shall exercise the rights and responsibilities personally unless otherwise authorized by any section of the Revised Code or by the court.

(20) A "legitimate excuse for absence from the public school the child is supposed to attend" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(a) The fact that the child in question has enrolled in and is attending another public or nonpublic school in this or another state;

(b) The fact that the child in question is excused from attendance at school for any of the reasons specified in section 3321.04 of the Revised Code;

(c) The fact that the child in question has received an age and schooling certificate in accordance with section 3331.01 of the Revised Code.

(21) "Mental illness" and "mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order" have the same meanings as in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(22) "Mental injury" means any behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorder in a child caused by an act or omission that is described in section 2919.22 of the Revised Code and is committed by the parent or other person responsible for the child's care.

(23) "Mentally retarded person" has the same meaning as in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.

(24) "Nonsecure care, supervision, or training" means care, supervision, or training of a child in a facility that does not confine or prevent movement of the child within the facility or from the facility.

(25) "Of compulsory school age" has the same meaning as in section 3321.01 of the Revised Code.

(26) "Organization" means any institution, public, semipublic, or private, and any private association, society, or agency located or operating in the state, incorporated or unincorporated, having among its functions the furnishing of protective services or care for children, or the placement of children in foster homes or elsewhere.

(27) "Out-of-home care" means detention facilities, shelter facilities, foster homes, certified foster homes, placement in a prospective adoptive home prior to the issuance of a final decree of adoption, organizations, certified organizations, child day-care centers, type A family day-care homes, child day-care provided by type B family day-care home providers and by in-home aides, group home providers, group homes, institutions, state institutions, residential facilities, residential care facilities, residential camps, day camps, hospitals, and medical clinics that are responsible for the care, physical custody, or control of children.

(28) "Out-of-home care child abuse" means any of the following when committed by a person responsible for the care of a child in out-of-home care:

(a) Engaging in sexual activity with a child in the person's care;

(b) Denial to a child, as a means of punishment, of proper or necessary subsistence, education, medical care, or other care necessary for a child's health;

(c) Use of restraint procedures on a child that cause injury or pain;

(d) Administration of prescription drugs or psychotropic medication to the child without the written approval and ongoing supervision of a licensed physician;

(e) Commission of any act, other than by accidental means, that results in any injury to or death of the child in out-of-home care or commission of any act by accidental means that results in an injury to or death of a child in out-of-home care and that is at variance with the history given of the injury or death.

(29) "Out-of-home care child neglect" means any of the following when committed by a person responsible for the care of a child in out-of-home care:

(a) Failure to provide reasonable supervision according to the standards of care appropriate to the age, mental and physical condition, or other special needs of the child;

(b) Failure to provide reasonable supervision according to the standards of care appropriate to the age, mental and physical condition, or other special needs of the child, that results in sexual or physical abuse of the child by any person;

(c) Failure to develop a process for all of the following:

(i) Administration of prescription drugs or psychotropic drugs for the child;

(ii) Assuring that the instructions of the licensed physician who prescribed a drug for the child are followed;

(iii) Reporting to the licensed physician who prescribed the drug all unfavorable or dangerous side effects from the use of the drug.

(d) Failure to provide proper or necessary subsistence, education, medical care, or other individualized care necessary for the health or well-being of the child;

(e) Confinement of the child to a locked room without monitoring by staff;

(f) Failure to provide ongoing security for all prescription and nonprescription medication;

(g) Isolation of a child for a period of time when there is substantial risk that the isolation, if continued, will impair or retard the mental health or physical well-being of the child.

(30) "Permanent custody" means a legal status that vests in a public children services agency or a private child placing agency, all parental rights, duties, and obligations, including the right to consent to adoption, and divests the natural parents or adoptive parents of all parental rights, privileges, and obligations, including all residual rights and obligations.

(31) "Planned permanent living arrangement" means an order of a juvenile court pursuant to which both of the following apply:

(a) The court gives legal custody of a child to a public children services agency or a private child placing agency without the termination of parental rights.

(b) The order permits the agency to make an appropriate placement of the child and to enter into a written agreement with a foster care provider or with another person or agency with whom the child is placed.

(32) "Permanent surrender" means the act of the parents or, if a child has only one parent, of the parent of a child, by a voluntary agreement authorized by section 5103.15 of the Revised Code, to transfer the permanent custody of the child to a public children services agency or a private child placing agency.

(33) "Person responsible for a child's care in out-of-home care" means any of the following:

(a) Any foster parent, in-home aide, or provider;

(b) Any administrator, employee, or agent of any of the following: a public or private detention facility; shelter facility; organization; certified organization; child day-care center; type A family day-care home; certified type B family day-care home; group home; institution; state institution; residential facility; residential care facility; residential camp; day camp; hospital; or medical clinic;

(c) Any other person who performs a similar function with respect to, or has a similar relationship to, children.

(34) "Physically impaired" means having one or more of the following conditions that substantially limit one or more of an individual's major life activities, including self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, and self-direction:

(a) A substantial impairment of vision, speech, or hearing;

(b) A congenital orthopedic impairment;

(c) An orthopedic impairment caused by disease, rheumatic fever or any other similar chronic or acute health problem, or amputation or another similar cause.

(35) "Placement for adoption" means the arrangement by a public children services agency or a private child placing agency with a person for the care and adoption by that person of a child of whom the agency has permanent custody.

(36) "Placement in foster care" means the arrangement by a public children services agency or a private child placing agency for the out-of-home care of a child of whom the agency has temporary custody or permanent custody.

(37) "Practice of social work" and "practice of professional counseling" have the same meanings as in section 4757.01 of the Revised Code.

(38) "Probation" means a legal status created by court order following an adjudication that a child is a delinquent child, a juvenile traffic offender, or an unruly child, whereby the child is permitted to remain in the parent's, guardian's, or custodian's home subject to supervision, or under the supervision of any agency designated by the court and returned to the court for violation of probation at any time during the period of probation.

(39) "Protective supervision" means an order of disposition pursuant to which the court permits an abused, neglected, dependent, unruly, or delinquent child or a juvenile traffic offender to remain in the custody of the child's parents, guardian, or custodian and stay in the child's home, subject to any conditions and limitations upon the child, the child's parents, guardian, or custodian, or any other person that the court prescribes, including supervision as directed by the court for the protection of the child.

(40) "Psychiatrist" has the same meaning as in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(41) "Psychologist" has the same meaning as in section 4732.01 of the Revised Code.

(42) "Residential camp" means a program in which the care, physical custody, or control of children is accepted overnight for recreational or recreational and educational purposes.

(43) "Residential care facility" means an institution, residence, or facility that is licensed by the department of mental health under section 5119.22 of the Revised Code and that provides care for a child.

(44) "Residential facility" means a home or facility that is licensed by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under section 5123.19 of the Revised Code and in which a child with a developmental disability resides.

(45) "Residual parental rights, privileges, and responsibilities" means those rights, privileges, and responsibilities remaining with the natural parent after the transfer of legal custody of the child, including, but not necessarily limited to, the privilege of reasonable visitation, consent to adoption, the privilege to determine the child's religious affiliation, and the responsibility for support.

(46) "School day" means the school day established by the state board of education pursuant to section 3313.48 of the Revised Code.

(47) "School month" and "school year" have the same meanings as in section 3313.62 of the Revised Code.

(48) "Secure correctional facility" means a facility under the direction of the department of youth services that is designed to physically restrict the movement and activities of children and used for the placement of children after adjudication and disposition.

(49) "Sexual activity" has the same meaning as in section 2907.01 of the Revised Code.

(50) "Shelter" means the temporary care of children in physically unrestricted facilities pending court adjudication or disposition.

(51) "Shelter for victims of domestic violence" has the same meaning as in section 3113.33 of the Revised Code.

(52) "Temporary custody" means legal custody of a child who is removed from the child's home, which custody may be terminated at any time at the discretion of the court or, if the legal custody is granted in an agreement for temporary custody, by the person who executed the agreement.

(C) For the purposes of this chapter, a child shall be presumed abandoned when the parents of the child have failed to visit or maintain contact with the child for more than ninety days, regardless of whether the parents resume contact with the child after that period of ninety days.

HISTORY: 142 v H 403 (Eff 1-1-89); 143 v H 257 (Eff 8-3-89); 143 v H 38 (Eff 7-10-90); 144 v H 155 (Eff 7-22-91); 144 v H 356 (Eff 3-15-93); 145 v H 152 (Eff 7-1-93); 145 v S 21 (Eff 10-29-93); 145 v H 715 (Eff 7-22-94); 146 v H 1 (Eff 1-1-96); 146 v S 2 (Eff 7-1-96); 146 v H 274, §§ 1, 4 (Eff 8-8-96); 146 v H 265 (Eff 3-3-97); 146 v S 223 (Eff 3-18-97); 146 v H 124 (Eff 3-31-97); 147 v H 408 (Eff 10-1-97); 147 v S 212 (Eff 9-30-98); 147 v H 484 (Eff 3-18-99); 148 v H 470 (Eff 7-1-2000); 148 v S 181. Eff 9-4-2000.