Newspaper denied access to list of Ohio licensed foster parents

Foster-parents list off-limits to paper's request, state says
Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 4, 2006, News pg. 2C.

The state has denied a newspaper's public-records request for the names and addresses of every licensed foster parent in Ohio, saying release of the information would be illegal and could jeopardize children.

Only those who place foster children in homes need access to such information, said Barbara Riley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The Cincinnati Enquirer asked for the records as part of its coverage of foster parents charged with murder in the death of a 3-year-old boy in their care. Prosecutors say Liz and David Carroll Jr. left the boy for two days in a closet, where he died. David Carroll is accused of burning the boy's body.

Ohio has almost 11,000 foster parents.

The records requested by the newspaper don't contain any information about foster children, The Enquirer reported yesterday. But making the list of foster parents public could allow threatened foster children to be located, Riley said.

The department based its decision on a state adoptions law and an Ohio Supreme Court case.