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About This Section (this page)
Privacy Policy / Disclaimer Notice
The Children with Disabilities section of the Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) Web site provides information for families in Ohio who have children with disabilities under the age of 22. The information provided helps families find services for their child's medical, financial, educational, and daily living needs. This information also helps families to become better advocates for their child's needs.
The Children with Disabilities section was formerly referred to as the Ohio Family Support Collaborative (FSC) Web site. The FSC Web site was one of many products from a grant that was administered by OLRS from the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council. The grant that provided funding for the Web site has since ended. OLRS now manages and funds the Web site.
The following is more information about the history and purpose of the Family Support Collaborative (FSC) grant.
The FSC believed that in Ohio, the systems of supports and services are not designed to functionally meet the needs of families. The FSC affirmed the belief that all children can and will live in a family, preferably their birth family, which is safe, nurturing, and permanent, if that family is adequately supported. The purpose of the FSC was to identify the need for, and guide the development of, an integrated system of support for the family. The integrated system of support proposed by FSC recognized that families are the pivotal decision-makers for choosing services and supports for children and their families. Read the FSC's Mission Statement, Ten Principles of Family Support, and FSC Advocacy Plan.
Another product of the FSC grant was the Family Support Act, legislation that would establish a simple, streamlined application/eligibility process and create a single point of entry to find out about, apply for, and evaluate supports. Originally introduced in March of 2002, the Family Support Act was re-introduced as House Bill 214 on June 6, 2003. The bill did not come to a vote before the House recessed in the summer of 2004. Read more about the Ohio Family Support Act, House Bill 214.
However, the Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (ODMRDD), on behalf of the Taft Administration, offered an alternative to House Bill 214: establishing a Family Support Council (FSCouncil) within ODMRDD. The Council is a shared initiative among the original FSC, the Ohio Legal Rights Service, ODMRDD, and the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council that is now actively working toward implementing many of the provisions contained in House Bill 214 that ODMRDD has within its power to change. Some of the provisions of the bill require collaboration among many of the state agencies providing services for families who have children with disabilities, for example, the departments of Job and Family Services, Health, and Mental Health. The FSCouncil continues to meet regularly with its collaborative partners to implement many of the provisions of House Bill 214.