Casey s Law Ohio. What is Casey s Law? Purpose of Survey. Survey Questions

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1 Contact: Ohio Citizen Advocates for Addiction Recovery Casey s Law Ohio What is Casey s Law? Casey s Law Ohio refers to Ohio Revised Code (O.R.C.) sections It is a law that allows a relative, spouse, or guardian to file a petition in the county probate court to have someone involuntarily committed for treatment from alcohol or drug abuse. There are three qualifying criteria for an individual to receive this treatment: they must be suffering from substance abuse, is a danger to themselves or others due to the substance use, and may realistically benefit from receiving treatment. According to the law, there is a financial responsibility component. The law requires that the petitioner must accept financial responsibility for the treatment and that they will pay full or partial costs up-front. The law also requires that the local county board for alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services provide each probate court with a list of available treatment centers for that county. Purpose of Survey In early 2015, Ohio Citizen Advocates for Addiction Recovery surveyed all 88 county Probate Courts. Eighty-one courts responded to the survey. The purpose of the survey was to learn more about the process to file a petition from each of the probate courts in Ohio in order to help provide individuals with the information they need in order to file the petition. There is an obvious barrier for individuals filing this petition: the financial responsibility component. Therefore, in addition to learning about the processes involved, we were curious to see if health insurance or Medicaid would be a possible payer source for the treatment. With this information, the goal is to better prepare interested individuals as well as help them understand the particular processes with their local county probate court. Survey Questions There were four main questions on the survey, with a few follow-up questions. Has anyone made an inquiry or actually filed a petition in your court? o How often have you received inquiries? o How many petitions have been filed? Has the court developed their own forms for filing a petition? o Are they available online, can be mailed to the petitioner, or are available only by picking them up at the court? o Does the court provide any written instructions on how to fill out the forms? o Is the court staff able to provide any guidance or assistance in filling out the forms o If no, how would someone in their county access the forms? Under the law, the petitioner must accept responsibility for payment of treatment if ordered. o Does your court require partial or full payment up front?

2 o If the subject of the petition has insurance or Medicaid resources, are these considered as payer sources for the treatment? Under the law, the county alcohol, drug addiction and mental health board is required annually to provide the court with two lists: a) A list of all hospitals in the counties served by the board that are able and willing to take respondents ordered to undergo seventy-two hours of treatment and observation; b) A list of hospitals and treatment providers in the counties served by the board that are able and willing to provide treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse. Have these lists been provided to the court by your county board? Summary of Survey The Ohio Citizen Advocates for Addiction Recovery (OCAAR) decided to take on a project to develop an informational brochure for parents of adult children who are struggling with addiction to alcohol or other drugs. In order to develop this brochure, it was decided that it was necessary to contact all 88 probate courts in the state of Ohio with some questions that would be helpful for individuals who are interested in pursuing this petition. The information was collected through a combination of phone calls and . Currently, we have collected information from 81 of the 88 probate courts. Table 1: The number of courts that had at least one petition filed or received at least one inquiry about the petition. As seen on the graph, only 7 of the 81 probate courts that responded had filed a petition, and 32 of the 81 probate courts had received inquiries about the petition. At the time of inquiry, it was found that only 11 petitions have been filed out of the 81 probate courts.

3 Table 2: The number of courts that reported that they had forms available. As shown on the graph, 55 of the 81 counties reported having forms available, 21 counties reported they did not have forms available, and 5 counties did not answer the question. Table 3: The different ways individuals can obtain petition forms. *N/A indicates that the court had not responded to this question. As shown on the graph, there were several different ways for individuals to obtain the petition for the 81 counties. A majority reported that the forms can be obtained from the court, as well as from the Ohio Supreme Court website. However, as of March 25, 2015, there is not a form available on the Ohio Supreme Court website regarding this petition. If you want to check for updates, please go to

4 Other sources of obtaining this petition are to acquire a form from another county s court, an attorney, or using the information provided in O.R C. sections Table 4: The reported counties that created forms The law does not require that each county create a form for filing this petition. However, it is believed that having a form available makes this petition easier to access for interested parties. Other courts stated that they would use forms created from other county courts. As shown above, 13 counties of the 81 reported creating a form for this petition. Table 5: The reported payer cost upfront. The law states that individuals filing the petition have a financial responsibility for the treatment the subject of the petition receives. This graph shows the breakdown of how much individual financial

5 responsibility the petitioner has for each county. As shown, a majority require partial payment upfront, followed by full, and then a case-by-case basis. N/A indicates that the person spoken with was unsure because they had not had a case go through the process at their county court. Table 5: Medicaid or other health Insurance as possible payer source. The law does not specify if Medicaid or other health insurance could be a possible payer source for the treatment. However, it is clear that the financial component might be a barrier to individuals filing this petition. According to the 81 counties that responded, 15 stated that Medicaid or other health insurance could be a payer source, 7 stated that it is possible, and 6 stated that it was not a possible payer source. N/A refers to the court being unable to answer this question at the time they responded to the questions. When it came to Medicaid or other health insurance, the courts provided miscellaneous information about this issue. The information included the following: In order for Medicaid or other health insurance to be considered a payer source they must show the court proof of coverage. The decision to utilize Medicaid or other health insurance is up to the mental health board. Medicaid or other health insurance may not be considered a payer source because the treatment cost would be difficult to determine initially. The involuntary nature of this law may prevent insurance coverage. The decision to utilize Medicaid or other health insurance would depend on the treatment facility. One court reported that for this particular aspect, they would follow whatever the law states about this issue One stated that individuals still have to put 50% down and if insurance covers the cost then they have to get reimbursed by insurance company.

6 Table 6: Lists of Available Treatment Centers According to the law, it states that the each board of alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services will provide the courts annually with two lists. A list of all hospitals in the counties served by the board that are able and willing to take respondents ordered to undergo seventy-two hours of treatment and observation and a list of hospitals and treatment providers in the counties served by the board that are able and willing to provide treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse. According to this graph, out of the 81 counties that responded only 20 reported having these lists and 31 reported not having these lists available. For those that were unable to respond (N/A), it means that the individual that shared the information was personally not aware of such a list, but it was possible that other members of the court had the required lists available.