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Child Advocates: Ohio State Foster Plan Illegal, Inadequate

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Advocates for Ohio children cared for by relative adults say a state plan to address funding disparities for those children is illegal and inadequate.

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo Kimberly Hall, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, looks over a photo display outside her office, in Columbus, Ohio.
FILE – In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo Kimberly Hall, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, looks over a photo display outside her office, in Columbus, Ohio. [AP Photo | Andrew Welsh-Huggins, File]
At issue are people who take custody of children they’re related to but who aren’t licensed foster parents.

A long-time gap exists in Ohio between payments to non-licensed relatives and to licensed foster care parents, who typically receive much higher amounts.

Ohio has been under pressure from child advocates to follow a 2017 court ruling ordering equality in such payments.

Lawyers representing so called kinship caregivers are challenging the state’s recently announced plan.