Ohio Governor Mark DeWine Monday signed Senate Bill 202, which prohibits authorities from denying or limiting participation in parenting activities on the sole basis of disability. The law applies to custody and visitation rights, adopting, foster care and guardianships. While the right to these activities is not guaranteed for individuals with disabilities, disability alone cannot preclude someone from participating in caregiving.

Courts, public children services agencies, private child-placing agencies and private noncustodial agencies must all abide by the new legislation and are required to determine whether support services are “necessary and reasonable” to assist those with disabilities with parenting activities. Such determinations must include adequate reasoning, and caregivers may challenge any applicable determinations.

The bill continues to utilize the definition of a disability as set out in Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such an individual.”