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The Cleveland-Area Ombudsman and Filing Complaints

Two different systems: the free, independent ombudsman, and the Ohio Department of Health complaint line. Here is when to use each.

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The Cleveland-area long-term care ombudsman

Short answer

Ombudsmen advocate for nursing home and assisted living residents, free and confidential. Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties are Region 10A, operated by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman of Cleveland at 1-800-365-3112. Summit and Portage counties are a different region, 10B, operated by Direction Home Akron Canton.

Ombudsmen advocate for residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities (assisted living and memory care), investigating complaints about care quality, residents' rights, improper transfer or discharge, restraint use, and abuse or neglect. Ohio's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is administered through the Ohio Department of Aging and delivered through regional offices. Services are free and confidential, and an ombudsman acts only with the consent of the resident or their representative.

Region 10A — Eastern Lakefront (Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina)

  • Operator: Long-Term Care Ombudsman of Cleveland (LTCO)
  • Phone: 1-800-365-3112
  • Address: 8111 Rockside Rd., Suite 250, Valley View, OH 44125
  • Website: http://www.ltco.org/
Summit and Portage are a different region. Summit and Portage counties are covered by a different regional office, Region 10B (Akron/Canton Area), operated by Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities, not by Region 10A. Region 10B also covers Stark and Wayne counties. Region 10B phone: 1-800-421-7277, address: 1949 Town Park Blvd., Uniontown, OH 44685.

A phone number of 1-800-282-1206 appears in some general search results for Ohio's ombudsman program but could not be verified against a primary source. Do not use it without confirming directly with aging.ohio.gov.

Source: Ohio Region 10A Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

Reporting abuse or neglect in Ohio

Short answer

Ohio Adult Protective Services is administered county by county, not through one statewide hotline. In Cuyahoga County, call the Division of Senior and Adult Services at 216-420-6700, a 24-hour reporting line. Elsewhere in this site's 7 counties, contact your county's Job and Family Services department, or use the statewide fallback at 855-644-6277 (855-OHIO-APS).

Ohio Adult Protective Services is state-supervised by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) but administered county by county. Unlike Texas, there is no single statewide 24-hour hotline number; each county's Job and Family Services (JFS) or Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS) agency runs its own APS intake.

Cuyahoga County

  • Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services (DSAS): 216-420-6700. 24-hour reporting line for abuse, neglect, self-neglect, and financial exploitation of adults age 60 and older in Cuyahoga County.
  • Website

Lake, Lorain, Medina, Geauga, Summit and Portage counties

Lake, Lorain, Medina, Geauga, Summit, and Portage counties each run their own county JFS or DJFS Adult Protective Services intake rather than sharing Cuyahoga's number. Families in those counties should contact their county Job and Family Services department directly to find the correct local reporting line.

Statewide fallback: 855-OHIO-APS, 855-644-6277. Statewide online portal and backup number maintained by ODJFS. Use this if you cannot immediately identify the correct county contact, but a direct call to the county agency is usually faster for an active safety concern. Online portal

Emergency: Call 911 if someone faces immediate risk of death or serious harm.

Abuse or neglect occurring inside a licensed nursing home or residential care facility should also be reported to the Ohio Department of Health complaint line at 1-800-342-0553, in addition to or instead of county APS, since facility-based care is an ODH licensing matter.

Which one to call

The long-term care ombudsman and the Ohio Department of Health complaint line do different jobs, and using one does not preclude the other. The ombudsman advocates for a resident and can attend a care conference with you, but does not license, inspect or fine a facility. ODH investigates regulatory complaints and can take enforcement action, but is not an advocate for an individual resident's preferences the way an ombudsman is.

The consent rule

An ombudsman acts only with the consent of the resident or their legal representative. This surprises adult children. If a parent has capacity and does not want a complaint pursued, that decision stands, even where family disagrees with it.

If you are told your parent must leave

Call your region's ombudsman before you agree to anything or sign a move-out notice. This is exactly what the office exists for, it is free, and it is independent of the Ohio Department of Health.

Questions Cleveland families ask

Can a Cleveland assisted living resident get skilled nursing care without moving to a nursing home?

Yes, but only in a limited way. RCFs may provide skilled nursing services such as dressing changes, therapeutic diet supervision, and medication administration by licensed staff, capped at 120 days in any 12-month period under OAC 3701-16-02(D), unless the facility, resident, and physician agree in writing to extend it. Residents needing more than 8 hours a day of skilled nursing, ventilator support, or care for advanced pressure ulcers exceed what an RCF is licensed to provide.

Does Ohio's Medicaid expansion pay for a parent's assisted living or nursing home care?

No. Ohio's Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, effective January 1, 2014, covers adults age 19 to 64 up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level for acute and primary medical care. It's a completely separate pathway from the aged/blind/disabled Medicaid rules that govern nursing home and waiver eligibility for seniors. Long-term care coverage for seniors runs through Ohio's non-MAGI Medicaid rules, not the expansion population.

How does Ohio's Assisted Living Waiver work, and does it cover the full monthly bill?

The Assisted Living Waiver, administered by the Ohio Department of Aging through PASSPORT Administrative Agencies, pays for personal care and supportive services delivered inside a licensed Residential Care Facility for Medicaid-eligible adults 21 and older with a hands-on ADL need. It does not cover room and board; the resident pays that directly to the facility, capped at the SSI federal benefit rate minus a $50 personal needs allowance.

What is PASSPORT and how is it different from the Assisted Living Waiver?

PASSPORT is Ohio's flagship home and community-based Medicaid waiver, delivered through Area Agencies on Aging, designed to keep Medicaid-eligible seniors who need nursing-facility level of care living at home rather than in an institution. It covers personal care, home-delivered meals, adult day care, minor home modifications, medical transportation, and, as of October 2024, Structured Family Caregiving. Like the Assisted Living Waiver, it never pays for room and board, since it's strictly an in-home program.

What is MyCare Ohio and which Cleveland-area counties does it cover?

MyCare Ohio is a managed care demonstration for Ohioans eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, coordinating medical care, behavioral health, and long-term services and supports through a single plan. Its Northeast Ohio region covers all of Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, and Geauga counties, plus Summit and Portage counties. As of mid-2026 Ohio was mid-transition on a restructuring called Next Generation MyCare, so families should confirm current plan and county status directly with the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

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