A lawmaker wants the state to crack down on adults who illegally move adopted kids from one place to another. The representative fighting this problem says this is just another form of human trafficking.
Republican Dorothy Pelanda says she was shocked to find out an adopted child in her central Ohio district was moved from one house to another to another, and across state lines, without any court approval.
This is known as rehoming and Pelanda says this has been going undetected.
“Most typically money is exchanged family that wants to get rid of this child cause they have not integrated into the family finds a family in Ohio that for a certain sum of money agrees to take the child. This is a form of human trafficking," said Pelanda.
Pelanda’s bill would trigger an investigation if a child is enrolled in school without the proper custody paperwork, or if that child goes to the ER.
She adds there are legal ways of doing this through respite care agreements, which won’t be effected.