ACTION: Send Comments on DODD's Outrageous Background Check Rule by 9/5/25
- End Ohio's Parent Penalty
- Aug 30
- 5 min read
URGENT: DODD has opened Rule 5123-2-02 (Background Checks for Employment) for public comment until September 5. This rule is extremely dangerous for kids and adults with developmental disabilities, and we need as many families as possible to speak up!
Below is a suggested public comment you can use and the directions for how to submit it by email. It only takes one minute to participate, and your comment could potentially save someone’s life.
Here are the highlights (or “lowlights”) of this rule:
Double Standard: Families on ODM waivers can see background check results. Families on DODD waivers are denied this right. Why do our families deserve less protection?
Forced to Accept Strangers: OAC 5160-44-32 forces children to accept any “willing and able” provider—even a sex offender—without ever knowing that person’s criminal record.
No Real Penalties: Agencies caught skipping background checks are just asked not to do it again. No fines, no repayment, no loss of certification.
60-Day Loophole: Murderers, rapists, and kidnappers can work for 60 days before their background check results come back, all while being alone and unsupervised with vulnerable kids and adults.
Weak Exclusions: Serious crimes like robbery, burglary, arson, domestic violence, and drug trafficking only bar someone for a few years. Then they’re back in homes with absolutely no family knowledge.
Prostitution Exception: The rule only excludes prostitution if the worker is HIV-positive. Otherwise, prostitutes can be sent into homes to provide intimate care with no waiting period.
Let’s Get Real:
A man convicted of indecent exposure should not be left alone to bathe and diaper a nonverbal teen girl.
An arsonist should not be left alone in your home.
Murderers, rapists, and kidnappers should not get a 60-day grace period to “work first, background check later.”
It’s not fair that ODM waiver recipients can view background checks but DODD waiver recipients cannot.
Are you fired up about this? Send your public comment (suggested comment below) to the emails listed below. Comments are due by September 5, but why not just do it now so you don't forget? It only takes one minute. Remember to type your name at the bottom where it says [Your Name].
Send to:
Subject Line: Public Comment on Rule 5123-2-02 (Background Investigations for Employment)
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of End Ohio’s Parent Penalty, I am writing to object strongly to the proposed amendments to Ohio Administrative Code 5123-2-02, Background Investigations for Employment for Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities direct care workers. The rule as written fails to protect vulnerable children with developmental disabilities and instead gives dangerous predators unfettered access to Ohio’s most vulnerable adults and children.
1. Double Standard Between DODD and ODM Waivers
Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM)–administered waivers explicitly give individuals and their families the right to obtain the results of criminal background checks for both agency and non-agency providers (per OAC 5160-45-03 (A)(7-9), ORC 5164.341, 5164.342, and OAC 5160-45-07, -45-08, -45-11). The Ohio Department of Medicaid believes this transparency is essential to protect against abuse and help families make critical hiring decisions.
In contrast, Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD)–administered waivers deny disabled people this same right. Families are barred from knowing whether a stranger working without supervision in their home has convictions for indecent exposure, prostitution, burglary, or even arson. This is indefensible. Why do people on DODD waivers deserve less protection than people on ODM waivers? The safety and even survival of a person with a developmental disability should not depend on which state agency administers their waiver.
2. OAC 5160-44-32’s Free Choice of Provider Restrictions Worsen the Situation
The secrecy around DODD providers who have committed very serious crimes is compounded by OAC 5160-44-32’s provider of last resort clause, which applies only to minor children with developmental disabilities. (Adults 18+ with developmental disabilities may freely choose their providers.) But minors are forced to accept any “willing and able” provider—even a person with a violent criminal record—over their own parent.
In practice, this means a nonverbal teen girl could be bathed or diapered by a man previously convicted of indecent exposure, while her parents are legally barred from even knowing about his conviction. Again, this is absolutely indefensible.
3. No Real Penalties for Agencies that Break the Rules
The rule’s Business Impact Analysis openly admits that penalties are waived for “first-time” noncompliance. Our analysis of compliance reviews shows that care agencies routinely send unvetted workers into people’s homes, bill Medicaid for those hours despite sending an unqualified worker, and face no financial consequences when caught. Families only learn the truth after harm occurs. At a minimum, agencies caught skipping background checks should face fines, repayment of Medicaid funds, and loss of certification. We understand there is a serious provider shortage in Ohio, but sending in people who have never been through a background check is not the solution.
4. Outrageous Conditional Employment Loophole
The rule allows murderers, rapists, and kidnappers to be employed as care workers for 60 days before background check results are back. During those 60 days, the criminal would have unrestricted, unsupervised access to a vulnerable, perhaps nonverbal child or adult. “Trust us for two months, then we’ll fire them later” is not a safeguard.
5. Weak Exclusion Periods for Serious Crimes
The tier system minimizes serious crimes: robbery, burglary, arson, coercion, domestic violence, and drug trafficking only carry brief bans. After that, offenders can re-enter caregiving roles, again, without the client or family’s knowledge. A violent felon does not magically become safe after a certain number of years. We understand DODD’s interest in promoting “second chance” employment for felons, but turning the homes of vulnerable children and adults into a dumping ground for Ohio’s least employable offenders goes too far. There are countless other industries where such individuals could find work without being granted unsupervised, intimate access to the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
6. Prostitution Rule Narrowed to HIV-Positive Only
The proposed changes disqualify prostitution only if the worker is HIV-positive. Otherwise, individuals with recent prostitution convictions may provide intimate personal care. Parents are denied the right to say no. This is outrageous.
Here’s the Blunt Truth:
A man convicted of indecent exposure should not be granted unfettered access to bathe and diaper a nonverbal teen girl while her parents are kept in the dark about this worker’s past crimes.
A person convicted of arson should not be left alone, unsupervised, in the home of a vulnerable child or adult.
Murderers, rapists, and kidnappers should not be given a 60-day grace period to have free and open unsupervised access to Ohio’s most vulnerable children and adults.
Yet this rule, paired with OAC 5160-44-32, allows exactly that. The justification seems to be advancing a “second chance jobs program” for people with very serious convictions at the direct expense of the safety of children and adults with developmental disabilities. This is negligent and wrong, and it’s also out of step with what the rest of the state is doing under the ODM-administered waivers.
Recommendations
We urge DODD and Ohio lawmakers to:
Align DODD-administered waivers with ODM waivers by giving families full access to background check results.
Eliminate the 60-day conditional employment loophole for murderers, rapists, kidnappers, and others.
Impose strict penalties, including full repayment of Medicaid funds, for agencies that skip required background checks.
Extend or make permanent exclusions for all violent, coercive, and sexual crimes.
Remove the narrowed prostitution exception.
Ohio cannot continue to deny families the right to know who is entering their homes and touching their children and vulnerable adults. The double standard between DODD and ODM waivers is indefensible, the lack of penalties for offending agencies is reckless, and the combined effect of OAC 5160-44-32 with this background check secrecy is a disaster waiting to happen.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
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