The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio requires a universal home visiting program plan for parents and caregivers
Last action · May 20, 2026: Referred to Children and Human ServicesSponsors: Sean Brennan and 4 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Ohio House Bill 885 requires the Children and Youth Advisory Council to develop a plan within 100 days to establish a universal home visiting program for eligible families, including foster caregivers, adoptive parents, and pregnant or postpartum inmates. The Department of Children and Youth must begin implementing non-legislative actions within 60 days of receiving the plan and establish automatic enrollment processes through birth certificates, public assistance applications, and medical forms.
Eligible families and caregivers across Ohio gain access to structured home visiting services and automatic enrollment mechanisms on standard state forms, while state agencies must expand home visiting offerings by at least twenty percent annually over a five-year period.
- The Children and Youth Advisory Council is established under section 5180.04 of the Ohio Revised Code. context
- The Help Me Grow program is an established home visiting program in Ohio operated under section 5180.21 of the Revised Code. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Eligible families and caregivers
Eligible families, including foster caregivers and adoptive parents, become eligible for automatic enrollment and universal home visiting program services.
Children and Youth Advisory Council
The council is tasked with developing and submitting the implementation plan for the universal home visiting program within one hundred days.
Department of Children and Youth
The department must publish the plan, begin implementation within sixty days, execute an outreach plan, and manage automatic enrollments through its central intake and referral system.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible for the universal home visiting program?
How do eligible families get enrolled in the program?
When does the implementation plan have to be completed?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- May 20, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred to Children and Human Services
- May 12, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Universal Approach to Family Support
The legislation mandates the creation of a universal program rather than targeted assistance, utilizing automatic checkboxes across birth certificates and public assistance forms to maximize enrollment.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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