Commissioners approve child‑abuse MOU required by HB4 and authorize contract with court diagnostic center

The Lucas County Board of Commissioners approved a countywide memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at coordinating referrals, reporting, investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases, and authorized staff to pursue a contract for court diagnostic services for juvenile and family courts.

Prosecutor John Veralba said the MOU is required by House Bill 4 (2022) and is 99 percent state‑prescribed language; it defines roles for Lucas County Children’s Services and community partners with two primary goals: eliminating unnecessary repeat interviews of children and, when feasible, conducting only one interview of a child who is the subject of a report. Veralba told commissioners six county entities must sign (including commissioners, juvenile court, prosecutor, JFS, clerk of courts and sheriff) and that signatures from 13 non‑county entities (primarily police departments) were in process.

On the court services item, Veralba said remaining divisions of the common pleas court will join a joint agreement with the Court Diagnostic and Treatment Center; because the general division had separate issues it pursued its own contract. Veralba estimated the joint agreement’s cost at “about $225,000” based on prior years and told the board the figure may be high pending final revisions.

Both items were moved and approved by roll call. The MOU formalizes statutory expectations from HB4; the court contract authorization directs staff to finalize terms and return with any necessary final documents.