Pre-service and continuing education rules for licensed foster, resource and kinship caregivers, compiled from state administrative code and agency policy.
Verified as of 5 September 2026 Next review due 1 December 2026
Ohio
Stated in rule or current policy
Pre-service
Family foster home 24 hours, specialized foster home 24 hours, pre-adoptive infant home 12 hours; only training completed in the preceding 18 months counts.
Ongoing continuing education
Family foster home 30 hours every two years; specialized 45 hours every two years, which must include first aid and child and adult CPR; pre-adoptive infant 24 hours every two years. Training outside a classroom may not exceed half the requirement. Up to 8 hours may be waived by the agency after two years for caregivers who kept certification, provided care at least 90 days in the preceding 12 months, and had no violations.
Renewal term
Continuous certification since 1 January 2025 — homes apply between 90 and 30 days before the end of the fourth year of the initial certificate; four-year review cycle.
Kinship difference
No reduced hour table; instead a case-by-case waiver of non-safety standards including training hours and topic requirements. Safety standards cannot be waived and a refusal is final with no right to a hearing.
Conflict notes
The widely repeated "36 hours pre-service, 40 hours per two years" is the pre-2023 standard and is obsolete. The renumbering from 5101:2- to 5180:2- is incomplete — the kinship waiver rule still resolves only as 5101:2-42-18.2. Keep the clocks straight: certification review is four-yearly while continuing training runs on a two-year clock.