Ohio Family and Children First was codified in Section 121.37 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) in 1993. This section describes the membership and duties of both the state and local Family and Children First Councils (FCFCs). There are resources available to assist counties in understanding the statutory mandates of FCFCs.

OFCF Statute Presentation

The following presentations have been created to highlight specific mandates in the Family and Children First Statute, ORC 121.37.

• OFCF Statute, ORC 121.37
• OFCF Statute Presentation, ORC 121.37, Full Version 
• OFCF Statute Presentation, ORC 121.37, Short Version

OFCF Statute Guidance Documents

The following guidance documents are available to assist in implementating various aspects of the Family and Children First Statute, ORC 121.37.

• Service Coordination Guidance Document 
• H.B. 289 Shared Planning Guidance Document

Legal Opinions Regarding OFCF Statute

Several requests for legal opinions have been requested over the years to clarify various aspects of the Family and Children First Statute.

• Regarding the legal counsel for cluster: AG Opinion 1993-050
• The administrative agent, executive committee, nor the fiscal agent may impose a charge upon council members for the purpose of funding the administration or operation of the council: AG Opinion 2002-008
• Expansion of membership, designees, no proxy voting, personnel rules that may not supersede administrative agent rules: AG Opinion 2000-010
• Role of the FCFC Administrative Agent with regards to employment and compensation of the FCFC Coordinator: AG Opinion 2009-014

Below are online data resources that may be helpful for local planning and decision-making related to child, family, and community well-being.

• Online Collaboration Factors Inventory:  A tool to access how well a collaboration is doing.
• Bright Ideas Ohio:  A collection of creative and innovate practices being implemented by Ohio non-profits.
• Ohio Compassion Map:  Information on non-profits, social service organizations, and houses of worship in each county. 

• OFCF Children, Youth and Family Online Data Resource Guide: PDF version or OFCF Children, Youth and Family Online Data Resource Guide: Word version identifies available online data resources for each of the OFCF Cabinet agencies.  (as of January 2008)
• The Ohio Summit on Children provides state and county level analysis of the Child and Family Services Review (child welfare).
• The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Surveillance of Drug Abuse Trends.
• This website provides county and state health rankings across the nation ​​​​​County Health Rankings.
• The Ohio Family Violence Prevention in Ohio provides useful county and state data related to family violence in Ohio.
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Center and the Children's Defense Fund-Ohio's 2013 Kids Count Data Book.
• National Center for Children in Poverty provides state profiles on early childhood, adolescents, and family economic security.
• The Ohio Department of Health's Child Fatality Review Annual Reports provides the latest county and state data on child fatality.
• The Ohio Department of Health's Body Mass Index (BMI) Report on Third Graders provides information about BMI along with county and state BMI data.
• Child Well-Being and Disparity Data: Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management created the site to allow for customized profiles, rankings and maps.