Bill proposed by Representatives Williams and Miller

Ohio bill would fill gaps in child abuse reporting systems
Bethea, Jesse. NBC4, Feb. 19, 2026. 

Two state lawmakers are proposing a bill to remedy gaps they see in the statewide system for responding to allegations of child abuse.

Ohio Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) and Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland) plan to introduce what they call Kei’Mani’s Law, named after Kei’Mani Latigue, a 13-year-old girl who was abducted and killed last year in Toledo. 

Following Kei’Mani’s death and the criminal charges filed against the girl’s father, Columbus activist and area commissioner Peaches Calhoun began looking for ways that state and local agencies could better address reports of child abuse and neglect. She found that too often, schools, welfare agencies and law enforcement are not sharing information.

“My thoughts were, what if we connect?” Calhoun said. “If it’s reported at school, the hospital and the police station should know about it, that way everybody is on the same accord, everybody is holding everybody responsible.” 

Calhoun took her thoughts to Williams, who, along with Brewer, developed Kei’Mani’s law, which will expand and strengthen information sharing between schools, child protection services and the courts. It would also require schools to designate a child protection liaison to be responsible for coordinating and managing reports of abuse among their students. 

“Schools are often the first place signs of abuse are noticed,” Brewer said. “This bill creates a clear point of contact, someone accountable for communication, coordination and follow-through.” 

Williams and Brewer said that reports of abuse were properly investigated leading up to Kei’Mani’s abduction and death, but it’s the system itself that needs to change. 

“Those professionals operated within the frameworks of the current law of the state of Ohio,” Williams said. “But as legislators, when a tragedy reveals gaps in communication or accountability, it is our responsibility to respond.”

The bill also permits child protective services to share information with criminal courts, something that Capital University Law Professor Jennifer Goldson said could raise due process concerns. According to Goldson, the idea that courts would be made aware every time an abuse, neglect, or dependency investigation is opened calls into question the rights of the person under investigation. 

“I don’t think a court should be getting involved in a children’s services investigation until a case is opened,” Goldson said. “Which doesn’t happen until children’s services investigates, finds substantiation of the claims and ultimately files a complaint.” 

Kei’Mani’s Law would require prompt entering of information into the Uniform Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and would expand access to SACWIS to child protection liaisons, courts and law enforcement, but would also require the security of that information. 

“While knowledge sharing is a critical aspect of this legislation, it is also important that those trusted with this information are trained and held to the highest standard,” Brewer said