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Homeschooling in Ohio: Child and Family Services |
| Law & Process | Troubleshooting: Educate Yourself | Legislative | DCFS | People |
| Educate Yourself | Teaching Civics? | Homeschooling is Political | New to Homeschooling in Ohio? |
| Ohio Revised Code provides two entities that must act inside the State laws and that homeschooling families need to be aware of. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) is based in Columbus and has offices in every county. Many services are provided by the county departments of job and family services. Services provided by this entity are things like child support and other issues surrounding the health and well being of children. In addition to ODJFS, Ohio Revised Code provides power to the board of education of every local school district to employ an attendance officer, sometimes called a truant officer. This page contains information that may serve you if you are contacted by officers of either of these entities. In order to be protected by our laws, you must know what they are and how not to stray too far from them. By being well read on what human rights are, what the U.S. Constitution really says, and what your State and local statutes have to say, you retain a lot of your own civic power and help to ensure your personal freedoms.
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What
would the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, or other officer
of the courts want with my family?
Some things to consider
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It can't be said enough times. In order to be protected by our laws, you must know what they are and how not to stray too far from them. By being well read on what human rights are, what the U.S. Constitution really says, and what your State and local statutes have to say, you retain a lot of your own civic power and help to ensure your personal freedoms. The people we vote into office and the people who are appointed to offices - we hope know what the laws are. Sometimes they don't. Misinformed officials can be in any place of the legal system and in our systems of government. Sometimes these misinformed officials will use fear to instill fear to get you to do something that is over and above what is required. It is in your best interest to be informed on the issues that can affect your personal freedoms and rights to homeschool. Take this on as a responsibility to yourself, your family and your community.
What
is child abuse? 2151.03 Neglected child defined - failure to provide medical or surgical care for religious reasons. 2151.031 Abused child defined. 2151.421 Reporting child abuse or neglect. What
is child endangerment? 2919.22 Endangering children
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As mainstream as homeschooling has become, there are still people who do not understand why your kids are not in school. If you have complied with the State laws and received the excusal letter from your district, you should be fine. But sometimes there are issues that can come up where you may need to be more informed than the average citizen.
Each school district has attendance officers employed - often at the local schools, or at the main district offices. This is mandated by Ohio Revised Code: 3321.14
Attendance officer - pupil-personnel workers. 3321.15
Educational service center attendance officer
and assistants. 3321.16
Investigation of nonattendance. These are they people who investigate if your child(ren) are truant. If you are in compliance with Ohio law, you have nothing to fear if a busybody neighbor or tradesman reports your children as truant. Here are steps you can take if truancy is threat before you. |
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Custody
and Homeschooling Once a divorce decree has been registered in the State of Ohio, you will most like encounter the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) on a regular basis if you are collecting child support and alimony. Here are ideas that may be helpful CHAPTER 5101: DEPARTMENT OF JOB AND FAMILY SERVICES-- GENERAL PROVISIONS Ohio Department of Job and Family Services County Agency Directory and Web Sites Child
Support The county child support enforcement agencies provide the program’s services directly to the public. In some counties, child support is a division within the county department of job and family services but it can also be associated with a county prosecutor’s office, a court of common pleas, or a county commissioners office. Download an Ohio Child Support fact sheet. Find your own forms. Go to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services website Interstate Child Support in Ohio If you divorce decree is registered in another state, you can still collect child support in Ohio. The Uniform interstate family support act is a Federal regulation that basically states that the items outlining support in your decree are upheld in every state. In 1975, Congress established the Child Support Enforcement Program. The purpose of the program is to collect child support payments for children in single-parent (or single-guardian) families. Each state however, has regulations about how that happens. CHAPTER 3115: UNIFORM INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT ACT The
Ohio Child Support Enforcement program is supervised at the state
level by the Department of Human Services, Office of Child Support
(OCS). Services are administered locally by county Child Support
Enforcement Agencies (CSEA). Any family may receive child support
services by completing an application.
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Misinformed
officials are out there
What
can I do if my family is harassed because we are homeschoolers?
In
Ohio, as in any other state, government agents, such as a social worker
or local police officer or Sheriff's deputy, need a warrant or court order
to enter a citizen's home. There is no need to
pay for the services from an agency that may claim to protect you
should you be harassed. You can protect your own family with basic knowledge
of your rights. It can't be said enough times. In
order to be protected by our laws, you must know what they are and how
not to stray too far from them. By
being well read on what human rights are, what the U.S. Constitution really
says, and what your State and local statutes have to say, you retain a
lot of your own civic power and help to ensure your personal freedoms.
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Practical
Ways to Claim Responsibility for Our Homeschools |
Other
Actions You can take
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Educate Yourself
There is nothing more effective than an informed person. The power of the individual. Sometimes we forget to think before we act and this can often have undesired results. Educate yourself about the issues the district may harass you about. Know going into any confrontation that you do have an awful lot of power and resources as an individual.
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Keep Records
Keep a General Student File which contains: your child's cumulative (cum) file from any public or private schools they may attend. Keep all correspondence regarding your student's withdrawal from public school, including the certified mail receipts. Keep copies of your child's health and immunization records (or exemption) in this file.
Keep a School Year File which contains a copy of: your annual notification to your school district, “attendance” records, written commendations by people outside the family (this can include librarians, doctors, coaches and instructors).
EXPLANATION: You want a paper trail that shows that you are indeed homeschooling your children. It's also good to be on top of student records before the senior year of high school so you don't have to scramble to pull together a transcript or portfolio for college entrance. Also, positive opinions from outside family can only help if such a DCFS investigation should occur.
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If you feel you need to have your child assessed do it through a private agency, giving social security numbers as seldom as possible. (This may slow down or prevent all your child's information from being easily compiled by the government.) Know that there are laws that protect this sort of information. Get a copy of the information; it is rightfully yours to keep.
EXPLANATION: You may feel you need an academic, emotional or other physical assessment for your child for any number of reasons. Keeping that information private is your right according to Federal and State privacy laws. You doctor should be able to by law, explain that you are allowed to receive a copy of all medical records for your family. If he does not offer this information to you, ask him about it. It is rightfully yours.
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Join a support group that is active and aware. Make a point to become well acquainted with at least several other homeschoolers, forming the foundation of a network of friends who trust you and whom you know you can trust.
EXPLANATION: The purpose of this point is to encourage at least small communities of homeschoolers. Families who do not connect with other home educators may not be recognized as homeschoolers and may not be able to be "helped" when they are in need for 2 reasons: 1) the home school community won't know when/if you are in "trouble". 2) you won't know with whom to connect with
Do
I have access to public records?
Yes. State and Federal Law have guidelines that outline the records that are considered public information. In Ohio the right to have access to and to view public records is outlined in "the Sunshine Laws".
- Federal
Level: THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
5 U.S.C. § 552 As Amended in 2002: Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders, records, and proceedings
(a) Each agency shall make available to the public information as follows:
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State Level
Ohio Sunshine Laws
To preserve and encourage openness, the Ohio General Assembly passed the Open Meetings and Public Records acts, collectively known as the "Sunshine Laws." Because many of the records held by public bodies pertain to private matters of citizens interacting with their government, the balance between openness and privacy is a delicate one. The Sunshine Laws are constantly being evaluated to ensure that the information gathered by the government is not abused and that individual privacy rights are protected to the greatest extent possible.
The current edition of the Ohio Sunshine Laws Update, frequently referred to as the ""Yellow Book," is an overview of statutes and case law prepared by the Attorney General's office to guide public officials, as well as Ohio citizens, regarding the application of the Public Records and/or the Open Meetings law. Additionally, representatives within the Attorney General's office are available to guide local governments who want to set their own policies for openness as provided by law.
Ohio Freedom of Information FOI Resources
149.43 Availability of public records for inspection and copying.
121.22 Public meetings - exceptions.
The
process to obtain public records
Every person has the right to inspect a public record. Use these six steps,
to access public records:
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Locate the record keeper.
Find the person who is responsible for the government record you are looking for. If possible, go there and ask to inspect the records, something that can be done at no charge. In the case of social worker files you will need to go to the office where the caseworker is based. - Make
a written request.
If the record is not immediately available, submit a request using one of the forms at the State Attorney General's website or use an online letter generator to formulate your request. - Wait for a response.
Your
Right to Privacy
The information you send to the district regarding the education
of your children is provate and should remain that way. However with laws
like Sunshine laws, much of the information that the district has is public
information.
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Are
Your School Records Private? |
A little item called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows a school to release personal informational items such as: your name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance to pretty much anybody, including the military. On top of the FERPA laws, Ohio Revised COde also outlines the privacy you have:
3319.321
Confidentiality.
One idea is to include these words in your notification letter:
Enclosed is a brief outline of our intended curriculum for informational purposes. This outline and resource list are for informational purposes only, and remain the private property of our family, not public records subject to Ohio Revised Code Sec. 3319.321(B)(1). If any third party requests access to this information, please return these documents to us rather than violate our privacy.
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Download a sample notification letter that includes this text. [.doc format] [pdf format]
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