The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services develops rules and guidelines to aid counties in implementing programs for children who can not safely remain in their own homes. Foster (substitute) care for children is one of the major program components of Ohio's child welfare system and is provided through public and private agencies. The program's main purpose is to reunify children with their families and/or, find other permanent living arrangements when children can not safely return home. Foster or substitute care includes kinship care, foster care, residential substitute care in group homes and treatment facilities, the independent living program, and the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.
When it is determined that a child must be removed from the home, and a court grants temporary custody of the child to the public children services agency, the caseworker attempts to find a placement with a suitable relative to help maintain familial bonds. When a suitable relative is not available, the worker attempts to find a placement with a suitable non-relative with whom the child or family has a relationship. Suitable relatives and non-relatives are either licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services or approved by the local public children services agency. If the agency is unable to place the child with a relative or a non-relative who has a relationship with the family, the child is placed into a licensed foster care setting.
For additional information, click the following: http://jfs.ohio.gov/factsheets/fostercare.pdf