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Strategies

Linking Systems of Care for Ohio’s Youth (LSCOY) improved the response to child and youth victims of violence (physical or sexual violence) and/or those who are proximal to severe violence throughout Ohio. This project sought to increase identification, community resource linkage, and collaborations between the systems that serve children and youth. Strategy highlights included: forming a statewide key stakeholder group and related work groups; conducting a gap/needs assessment; mapping all major initiatives in Ohio related to victimized children and youth; developing a screening instrument, process and protocol which will be linked to an online resource directory; and facilitating agency linkage and communication through service-linkage protocol and related tools.

Funded Agency

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office (OAG) served as the lead agency and fiscal agent for their Linking Systems of Care project. The office consists of nearly 30 distinct sections that advocate for consumers and victims of violent crime, assist the criminal justice community, provide legal counsel for state offices and agencies, and enforce certain state laws.

The OAG offers services to protect all Ohioans, including children, families, consumers, the elderly, victims of violent crime, and veterans.

State Data FAQs


What do we know about children and youth in Ohio based on the census?

What are the racial and ethnic demographics for children and youth populations in the Ohio?
According to 2017 population estimates, white children and youth comprise 74% of the population ages 0-24 in Ohio, with black children and youth comprising 17%; Hispanic 6%; Asian 3%; and American Indian less than 1%.

How are children and youth populations changing in Ohio?
Between 2000 and 2017, white children and youth ages 0-24 within the state general population, decreased 14%. In contrast Hispanic children and youth increased 90%; Asian 87%, and Black 7%.

Puzzanchera, C., Sladky, A. and Kang, W. (2018). "Easy Access to Juvenile Populations: 1990-2017." Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/

What do we know from national law enforcement data collections in Ohio?

How many youth victims of violence are known to law enforcement in Ohio?
A reported 139,000 victims of violent crime were known to law enforcement in Ohio. Nearly 1 in 5 victims (approximately 25,700) were youth under the age of 18.

Among youth victims, what is the most common offense in Ohio?
Simple assault was the most serious offense for 42% of youth victims while 15% of youth were victims of a sex offense (e.g., fondling and rape). Half of all assaults (aggravated and simple) involved boys, and more than 75% of sex offense victims were girls.

How many youth are victims of domestic violence in Ohio?
Of the 25,700 youth victims of violence, more than two-fifths (~11,500) were victims of domestic violence.

Where are youth most likely to be victimized in Ohio?
More than half (57%) of all youth victims of violence were victimized in a residence and about 1 in 10 took place at school. Comparatively, about 80% of youth domestic violence victims were harmed at a residence

What is known about the offenders in Ohio?
Among all youth victims of violence, 40% were victimized by a family member and 38% were victimized by an acquaintance. Among youth domestic violence victims, more than 6 of every 10 (62%) were victimized by a parent.

National Incident Based Reporting System, 2015: Extract Files. Distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Available from https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/NACJD/index.html.

What do we know from national surveys of youth behavior in schools in Ohio?

How prevalent is bullying at high school in Ohio?
More than 1 in 5 (21%) high school students reported being bullied while at school and 1 in 7 (15%) reported being subject to electronic bullying. Overall, 5% of high school students reported that they did not go to school because they felt unsafe.

How prevalent is dating violence among high school students in Ohio?
One in 10 high school students reported experiencing sexual dating violence, i.e., kissing, touching, or being forced to have sex when they did not want to by someone they were dating.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1991-2015 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. Available from https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/.

What do we know from national data collections concerning child abuse and neglect in Ohio?

How many children who received an investigation were substantiated as victims in Ohio?
In 2016, there were 124,626 reports of maltreatment involving 103,868 unique children. More than four of every 10 (43%) of these reports received an alternative response, one-third were unsubstantiated, and 3% were closed with no finding of maltreatment. About 1 in 7 (15%) reports were substantiated, resulting in 23,635 unique child maltreatment victims in 2016.

What is the most common type of child maltreatment in Ohio?
Physical abuse (40%) and neglect (39%) were the most common forms of maltreatment, followed by sexual abuse (17%). Comparatively, psychological maltreatment (3%) was much less common

How many children die as a result of maltreatment in Ohio?
In 2016, there were 66 reported fatalities representing less than one half of 1% of all child victims. The child maltreatment fatality rate of 2.53 (per 100,000 children) in Ohio was above the national rate (2.36).

What is known about child maltreatment perpetrators in Ohio?
Parents and other family members are the most common child maltreatment perpetrators. In 2016, parents accounted for 59% of reported perpetrators and 11% were other relatives. Unmarried partners of a child’s biological parent accounted for a small percent (<1%) of perpetrators.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2018). Child maltreatment 2016. Available from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment.