Ohio parents and family advocates are calling on Attorney General Dave Yost to launch a broad investigation into how state-run and county-run systems treat children, saying those systems are failing to protect kids' rights and sometimes harming the families they are supposed to help.
Growing Pressure on Ohio AG Dave Yost
In recent months, parents' groups, disability advocates, and child-safety activists have stepped up public pressure on Yost, pointing to a series of high-profile debates over education, disability rights, online safety, and child care oversight in Ohio.
Families of students with disabilities have urged him to stand firmly against efforts by other states to roll back federal protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, warning that weakening those safeguards would make it harder to defend vulnerable children in Ohio schools, according to Dispatch.
Parent advocates argue that if the state is fighting in court over what rights children have, then Ohio also has a duty to examine whether its own systems are respecting those rights in practice, from classrooms to courtrooms.
Some parents say they feel shut out of decisions that shape their children's lives, especially in education and social services.
They point to Yost's legal efforts in national cases about parental rights in school curricula and social media as evidence that his office can move quickly when it chooses, and they want that same urgency focused on what happens to children inside Ohio's own institutions.
Calls for an investigation include requests to review how state agencies respond to reports of abuse, how children with disabilities are accommodated in public programs, and how information is shared with families when problems arise.
Safety Concerns Across State Systems
The push comes as state leaders are already grappling with serious issues involving children's safety and welfare, ABC6 reported.
Yost's office recently highlighted thousands of missing-child reports in the 2024 Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse Report, stressing the need for strong cooperation between local police and state agencies to bring kids home safely.
Lawmakers have also proposed tougher rules to combat fraud in publicly funded child care, including new camera and reporting requirements and expanded authority for the attorney general to prosecute cases, saying the goal is to better protect children in care settings.
Some parents welcome these steps but say they are not enough without a deeper, independent look at how children are treated across the system.
They are asking Yost to meet directly with affected families, open formal inquiries where needed, and issue public findings with clear remedies.
For now, his office has emphasized the importance of evidence and due process in any investigation, but families continue to press for a more visible, statewide response to their concerns about children's rights, as per State News.
