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Ohio Lawmakers Consider Oversight for Home Care Agencies

April 2, 2015

Lawmakers in Ohio are discussing the possibility of requiring licensure for home care agencies, the Columbus Dispatch reported on March 30.

Ohio is currently one of just eight states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, that does not require agencies to be licensed, wrote Dispatch reporter Ben Sutherly.

“There definitely needs to be some standards,” said State Senator Charleta Taveres (D).

Sutherly reports that momentum for licensing home care agencies has been lacking in Ohio in years past.

However, State Rep. Barbara Sears (R), the House majority leader, recently came out in favor of the idea, telling the Dispatch that “I think sometimes licensing is necessary. When we have vulnerable people, I think the state needs to step up and address that issue.”

Last December, Sutherly and fellow Dispatch reporter Rita Price produced a series of articles called “Home-Care Crisis,” which addressed the Ohio home care system’s lack of oversight.

— by Matthew Ozga

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