During this General Assembly, we, at the Statehouse, have focused on making adoption a viable option for Ohio families across our state. Whatever the circumstance might be, if parents are considering adoption there is no better time to consider than during November’s National Adoption Awareness Month.
Regarding adoption, it is personal to me. I have several members of my family that have come to us through foster care and then adoption, and we feel grateful and blessed every day that adoption was readily available.
As I mentioned, the Ohio House has passed several pieces of legislation that seek to bring adoption to the forefront in our state. For example, in our state operating budget we supported more than $500 million for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 investing in adoption, foster care and kinship care initiatives. Millions of those dollars will specifically go towards the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which launches the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program of recruiters to find permanent homes for children in foster care.
I also happily supported House Bill 442 that passed in the House late last year. This legislation addresses workforce shortages that foster care agencies face throughout the state by adding to the list of qualified individuals to perform home assessor duties and creates parity between private and public agencies’ professional treatment staff. Other surrounding states have implemented these rules, and if we do so this will address both issues surrounding this workforce while also ensuring the necessary treatment of our children in foster homes.
I understand this is such an important issue to many families throughout our state, myself included. As we recognize National Adoption Awareness Month, I hope to bring more attention to it for the betterment of the children in foster care and families thinking about adoption. For those interested in adoption or want more information on it here in our state, please visit https://fosterandadopt.jfs.ohio.gov/.
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State Representative Marilyn John is currently serving her first term in the Ohio House of Representatives. She represents the 2nd Ohio House District, which encompasses all of Richland County.
