ACTION: Tell DODD — No Background Check, No Job

Ohio’s Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) is accepting comments on its background check rule for direct care workers, and unless families speak up now, the rule will go through without fixing the most dangerous problems.

• In-Person Hearing: December 19 at 10:00 a.m.

• Best deadline: Send comments by December 18

• Even better: Send your comment NOW before you forget. It only takes one minute!

This rule affects who is allowed into your home, who is allowed to bathe, diaper, and provide intimate care to your child or adult loved one, and whether people with developmental disabilities and their families have any meaningful say in that decision.

Key Problems:

• ODM waiver recipients can see background checks. DODD waiver recipients cannot. We want DODD folks to have the same right to view background checks.

• Workers can have unsupervised access for up to 60 days with NO completed background check. We want COMPLETE background checks before a worker begins unsupervised work. “No background check, no job.”

• DODD claims people with disabilities and their families can just “refuse” unsafe workers, but that is only true for adults, not children. We raised this issue directly with DODD and asked for clarification and written guidance to protect children. DODD never responded. Their silence is unacceptable.

  
  

Please don’t assume “someone else will comment.” DODD counts your silence as approval of their policies. If families don’t speak up, this rule will move forward unchanged, and the current risks will remain.

SUGGESTED PUBLIC COMMENT and HOW TO SEND

Open a blank email. Copy and paste the comment below (or write your own).

Send to: becky.phillips@dodd.ohio.gov

Deadline: December 18, 2025 (but just do it now so you don’t forget during the holiday rush!)

Subject Line: Comment on Rule 5123-2-02 — Background Checks

I am submitting this comment regarding DODD’s background check rule.

First, families on ODM-administered waivers have the right to view background check results for workers providing intimate care. Families on DODD-administered waivers do not. This unequal protection is unacceptable. DODD families deserve the same transparency and safety protections as ODM families.

Second, the rule allows workers to provide unsupervised care for up to 60 days before a background check is complete. This puts vulnerable adults and children at serious risk. Background checks must be completed and cleared before a worker begins unsupervised work.

Third, DODD has stated that families may “refuse” a worker prior to the return of a background check. This is not true in practice for minor children due to county boards that follow DODD’s “aspirational” online FAQ about care for children. When parents of minors refuse to hire workers who don’t have completed background checks, county boards could say the family is rejecting a “willing and able” provider and then bar the parents from working as caregivers themselves, leaving the children with no access to their authorized Medicaid waiver services. This coerces parents of minor children into accepting potentially unsafe workers and must be corrected.

For minor children, no worker should be considered “willing and able” until their background check is fully complete and cleared. Children in all other settings - from schools to sports teams to scouting groups - receive background check protections. Children receiving intimate care related to their developmental disabilities deserve the same protection.

DODD must revise this rule to prioritize safety and transparency. Protecting our state’s most vulnerable adults and children must come first.