Ohio to Investigate Child Protection Handling Before Siders Children’s Rescue
The investigation will determine if the Ohio child protection system failed to act properly or if there were mistakes in the process that led to the rescue of 16 children from the Siders family home in Vinton County.
The review will be completed by the end of 2026 and will look at what occurred in the case and if child welfare agencies could have done something differently with concerns about the children, DeWine said.
The investigation will be directed at lessons that might be used to enhance protections for children throughout Ohio. But the review will not affect the current criminal investigation of members of the Siders family, officials said.
Child protection records indicate that the family had been previously investigated by child protection authorities in Gallia County. In 2020, concerns arose about some of the children not attending virtual school regularly, and an investigation was conducted. In 2021, a second investigation was started following reports of possible lead poisoning from doctors.
In the course of those investigations, the children were placed under protective supervision with their parents, and the children’s caseworkers engaged in work with the family to develop court-ordered plans.
The caseworkers reportedly found a number of warning signs, such as being denied access to parts of the home and seeing what they described as “apparent bruising” on some children. The family also ceased to follow their first case plan when the case was closed.
The children were not taken from the home at the time, however, due to those concerns.
The upcoming review will be looking at whether those decisions and other actions taken in the child welfare system could have been made differently, while keeping children’s safety and wellbeing at the forefront.
