16 Rescued Ohio Children Need Up to $4,000 Daily Care as County Faces Massive Support Challenge
Three weeks after 16 children were rescued from what authorities called a “House of Horrors” in Ohio, the focus has now turned to recovery, with the state giving emergency funding to help the children in long-term care and protection.
Children ages 18 months to 18 years were taken from their family home in Vinton County on June 30 when investigators say they had been living in severe neglect and in a single room for years. Some were sent straight to hospital, and some were still in hospital due to their health status, officials said.
The parents of the children, Elizabeth and Gary Siders II, and their grandparents are facing multiple child neglect charges. All have been found not guilty. The children are now in the custody of South Central Ohio Job & Family Services, which is coordinating their care, authorities say.
The State of Ohio has authorized over $1 million in emergency funding to support therapeutic foster care, medical care, counseling and other specialized services.
The cost of caring for the children is estimated to be $150 to $250 per child per day, a huge burden on the rural county that is responsible for their care.
Child protection professionals point out that children who are rescued from chronic neglect may need years of trauma-informed care to restore trust, communication skills, and physical and emotional health. They stress that recovery involves more than just leaving behind the bad places.
The case has brought to a head a renewed demand for more robust child protection systems that can identify children not in public services, enhance community reporting systems and ensure that vulnerable children are supported in a timely manner before they become life-threateningly neglected.
