Ohio county struggling to care for 16 siblings rescued from squalor amid ‘unprecedented child welfare crisis’

The Ohio county where 16 siblings were rescued from squalid conditions is struggling to care for the children and prosecute their parents and two grandparents.The state has labeled the situation “an unprecedented child welfare crisis” as the tiny rural county’s resources grow increasingly strained.The local prosecutor said the cost of medical care required for one of the defendants alone would have bankrupted Vinton County.

That led the court to change the grandfather's bond and release him from jail on his own recognizance for care at a hospital so the county didn't have to pay for it. Meanwhile, the county sought help from other prosecutors on the criminal case and is counting on approval next week of $1 million from the state to assist with care for the children, including some who have medical needs or are unable to speak.open image in gallerySixteen children were rescued from a home in rural Hamden, Ohio, after police found them living in squalor (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Vinton is Ohio's smallest county and one of its poorest, a rambling 415 square miles (1075 square kilometers) of isolated Appalachian terrain with one traffic light and a single grocery store.

One defendant was released to avoid more costsOn Tuesday, 73-year-old Gary Siders Sr. was released from jail after his bond was adjusted to not require up-front payment, and he was moved out of the county for medical care.Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer Jr.

said Siders had fallen at the jail and it became apparent that he “has a serious medical condition that requires specialized care.” In the regional jail, the costs of that care would fall on the county, Archer said.“Based on the information the county was provided, his medical care could potentially bankrupt Vinton County,” Archer told reporters Wednesday.

“We were not going to put that burden also on our local taxpayers.”Siders is charged with felony child endangerment. Also charged were his 67-year-old wife, Christina Siders; son Gary Siders Jr.

, 36; and daughter-in-law, 33-year-old Elizabeth Siders, the children's mother. They have pleaded not guilty, and some of their attorneys cautioned against drawing conclusions before more is known about what happened.RecommendedMom behind home where her 16 kids were kept like ‘feral animals’ had conjoined twins that died shortly after birth, police saySixteen children found in ‘deplorable’ home were part of same family, Ohio officials sayVinton County Common Pleas Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers made clear in her order that should the elder Siders' health improve enough to leave the hospital, the GPS tracking device he'll be required to wear also will be “paid for at the State's expense.”

“A lot of small counties like us, we’re in the same boat as Vinton,” said Mike Davis, prosecutor for Pike County, another financially-strapped southern Ohio county. “If a person has a medical issue, do we pay the medical bills and keep them in jail and blow our budget, or do we let them out and risk something happening that’s worse?”Archer emphasized that authorities determined the strategy didn’t put the public at risk in Gary Siders Sr.'

s case, given his health condition and the fact the case strictly involved family members.Other prosecutors are helping with the criminal caseThe judge agreed this week to Archer's requests to bring on three special prosecutors — Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, Assistant Attorney General Kara Keating and Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, an expert in child abuse cases — to share the load of the case “without compensation.” That means their offices will cover their own costs.

Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain also has requested assistance from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to records released by Wilson's office, which is not unusual.open image in galleryThe children’s parents and grandparents were arrested (Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail)“Money’s green and it’s absolute. You either have it or you don't,” said Davis, who said he could relate to Archer after Pike County had to grapple with a major criminal case of its own: the 2016 Rhoden family murders.

He said the demands of a significant criminal prosecution are felt across a small county's entire government operation, as workloads are shifted among government office staffs of oftentimes just one or two people and larger spaces and reliable internet service have to be secured for the influx of investigators and out-of-town media outlets.The county is expecting $1 million for children's servicesRemoving the 16 siblings from their home also instantly more than doubled the number of children in temporary custody in Vinton County — a daunting prospect for a county with about 12,600 residents and the smallest budget among Ohio’s 88 counties.On Monday, a state legislative panel is expected to approve a request from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to provide $1 million in additional state cash to Vinton County to help it cope with the “emergen