Reps. Sweeney, White's Bipartisan Bill on Child Support for Children with Disabilities Heads to Governor's Desk

COLUMBUS – State Reps. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) today announces the unanimous concurrence vote on Senate amendments to House Bill 338 (HB), bipartisan legislation with Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering) to allow child support orders to be issued or modified for a child with disabilities after that child has turned 18. 

For families who have children with disabilities, the need for financial and practical support often goes beyond the age of 18. In Castle v. Castle, the Ohio Supreme Court recognized the need for continued, mutual parental support after the age of 18 for children with a disability, establishing clear precedent that family courts could issue child support orders that continue past the age of 18 for children with disabilities where necessary and appropriate.

While there is precedent for continuing child support, there is currently no clear precedent for child support orders being newly-issued when the parents' divorce occurs after the child with a disability reaches the age of majority. This lack of clarity has led to a patchwork of jurisprudence across Ohio’s appellate court system and different legal standards based on the age of the child at the time of the parents’ divorce. As a result, some Ohio families are not receiving the financial support they need to properly care for their child with a disability.

“Ohio families and parents of children with disabilities already have to fight too many battles to get their child the help they need; the last thing the state should be doing is making their lives harder thanks to an arbitrary,” said Rep. Sweeney. “I am grateful for my colleagues' support in ensuring Ohio’s courts can act with fairness and consistency and in taking care that some of our community’s most vulnerable families have access to the necessary and appropriate family support.”

HB 338 would not change anything about how child support is calculated or determined, nor does it mandate that a child support order be issued. The legislation is narrowly tailored to address only the courts’ ability to consider child support orders when a child with a disability is over the age of 18 to ensure that Ohio law is applied fairly and consistently throughout the state.

HB 338 now heads to the Governor’s desk.