Action Alert: Tell DODD "NO" to Surprise Home Visits

For the 43,000+ people in Ohio who access DODD Medicaid waivers, we have good news and bad news.

The Good News: DODD appears to have finally acknowledged that unannounced mandatory home visits are not currently allowed under OAC 5123-4-02.

The Bad News: They now want to change this law to allow SSAs to barge into your home whenever they have a vague “concern.” This would apply to all 43,000+ people (adults and children) who have Individual Options, Level 1, or SELF waivers.

This is a dangerous and unnecessary idea. SSAs are entry-level administrative staff. They are trained to call police or protective services if they suspect something is wrong. They have no medical, legal, or law enforcement background.

And if you think this can’t happen to you because you are “one of the good ones,” think again. Every family in Smith v. DODD was completely innocent. They had not been accused of neglect, abuse, or wrongdoing of any kind. They didn’t receive surprise visits because they did something wrong, but because their SSA did something wrong.

Under the proposed rule, once an SSA says they’re “concerned,” even if they completely made it up, your family can be targeted, even if you’ve done everything right. This rule opens the door to serious abuse of power by the same people who openly admit they believe we are greedy, lazy, and "mental," and it could happen to anyone. It does not matter if you are “one of the good ones.”

If you don’t want county board staff showing up unannounced at your door and demanding entry at any time of day, we urge you to submit a public comment by November 17, 2025. You’ll find a suggested comment below, but you’re also welcome to write your own.

We’ve been doing this for several years, and this is the absolute worst rule change we have ever seen DODD attempt, even worse than the time they tried to restrict disabled folks’ right to travel outside the state. YOU stopped that one, and YOU can stop this one too!

Please consider forwarding this post to friends and family and asking them to send a public comment too. If we only get the same handful of people writing in, DODD will not listen to us and will move forward with this terrible plan. But if many people write in, we can put a stop to this just like we did with the travel restriction rule.

As always, thank you for your advocacy. We understand this is a scary time and DODD has truly lost its way. If we all band together and oppose this, we still have a chance to get it removed from the law, just like we did for the travel restriction rule a few months ago!

Send your comment to: Becky.Phillips@dodd.ohio.gov

Deadline: November 17, 2025

Subject Line: Public Comment on Proposed Changes to OAC 5123-4-02

Suggested Comment Below (don’t forget to add your name where it says “Your Name”)

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Dear Ms. Phillips,

I strongly oppose proposed Section (N)(e), which allows SSAs to conduct unscheduled home visits under vague and subjective conditions. This language is dangerous, unnecessary, and should be struck entirely.

SSAs are entry-level administrative staff. They are not trained in law enforcement, emergency response, or criminal investigation. If an SSA believes a person is in danger, the appropriate response is to call the police or protective services, as outlined in SSA training. Entry-level administrative workers are wholly unqualified to assess an emergency or gather admissible evidence. Any attempt to do so would likely violate the Fourth Amendment as an unlawful, warrantless search.

The rule allows unannounced visits if there have been “multiple attempts to contact a family” or if the SSA has “concerns.” These are not legal standards. The rule does not define how many attempts count as “multiple,” nor who evaluates whether a vague “concern” justifies a home intrusion. A missed phone call or an email that went to spam should never trigger a warrantless government entry under any circumstances.

Moreover, public records show that SSA staff and affiliated lobbyists have described the families they serve as “greedy,” “lazy,” “mental,” and “ick,” among other slurs. This level of bias raises serious civil rights concerns. No one should be subjected to a surprise home inspection by a government agent who believes they are inherently unfit. DODD’s proposal to expand unannounced home visits will only deepen the distrust and harm already caused by SSA misconduct. The relationship between SSAs and families is already fragile because of the “greedy,” “lazy,” “mental” remarks. Policies that treat innocent families like criminal suspects will destroy what little trust remains. Government agents showing up unannounced at a private home will rightly be perceived as a threat.

Finally, Section (N)(1)(b)(i) of the current rule already states that monitoring visits must be “at a time and place convenient to the individual.” That clearly rules out surprise visits. DODD’s repeated insistence in court filings that unannounced inspections should be permitted shows why this language must be clarified, not weakened.

We strongly urge the Department to:

1. Strike Section (N)(e) entirely;

2. Clarify in Section (N)(1)(b)(i) that all visits must be scheduled in advance by phone, email, or text and occur at a time and place convenient to the individual;

3. Prohibit unannounced visits to family homes under all circumstances, except when specifically requested by the individual or the individual’s guardian.

Respectfully,

[Your Name]