Ohio Adult Protective Services is state-supervised by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services but administered county by county; unlike some states, there is no single statewide 24-hour hotline. Each county's Job and Family Services or Department of Job and Family Services agency runs its own APS intake, with a statewide online portal and backup number (855-644-6277) available if the correct county contact isn't immediately clear.
What to do next
Ohio's county-by-county APS structure catches a lot of families off guard, especially anyone who has previously dealt with a state that runs one unified statewide hotline.
In practice, this means the right number to call depends entirely on which county the older adult lives in: Cuyahoga County runs its own dedicated line, while Lake, Lorain, Medina, Geauga, Summit, and Portage counties each operate their own county JFS or DJFS intake separately.
When the correct county contact isn't obvious, ODJFS maintains a statewide backup number and online portal, though a direct call to the specific county agency is usually faster to get an active safety concern addressed.
