How to Fill Out and Submit Ohio JFS 01849: Review and Objections

Ohio’s JFS 01849 is the “Request for an Administrative Review of the Child Support Order,” the form either parent files with the county Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) to ask for a recalculation of an existing order. You can file it once thirty-six months have passed since the last order, or sooner if a specific qualifying circumstance applies and you can document it. Once the CSEA receives the request, it has up to 180 days to complete the review and mail results to both parties.¹

When You Are Eligible to File

The default rule is time-based. Thirty-six months after the most recent order, either parent can file JFS 01849 without showing anything has changed.² The passage of time is the qualifying event.

Before the thirty-six months are up, you need a specific qualifying circumstance and documentation to match. A general sense that things are different will not get the review opened. The circumstances recognized on the form are:²

A thirty percent decrease (beyond the parent’s control) or increase in either parent’s gross income or income-producing assets, lasting at least six months and expected to continue.
Involuntary loss of employment for at least thirty consecutive days, or a layoff under the federal WARN Act.
Permanent disability of either parent that reduces earning ability.
Incarceration of either parent for more than 180 calendar days.
A change in health coverage for the child: newly available, no longer reasonable in cost, or no longer accessible.
A change in the ordered health care coverage or child care cost large enough to shift the support calculation by more than ten percent.
The current order was set at a minimum or reduced amount because a parent was unemployed or underemployed, and that parent is now working.
Both parents have children together covered by two or more separate administrative orders that could be consolidated.

Two of these get misread. The thirty percent income change has to have lasted six months already, so one bad quarter is not enough. And a seasonal layoff will not qualify if the original order was already calculated around a seasonal work pattern.

Where to Get the Form

JFS 01849 is available through your county CSEA in person, and many county agencies post it as a downloadable PDF. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services also references the form through its child support pages at jfs.ohio.gov.¹ If you cannot find it online, call the CSEA directly and ask for a copy by mail or email. Ohio also runs a Child Support Customer Service Portal at childsupport.ohio.gov for case information, though whether you can submit forms through it depends on your county.

Filling Out JFS 01849

The form is short. The top section is partially pre-filled with county CSEA information. You supply the identifiers that connect the request to your case:

Your SETS (Support Enforcement Tracking System) case number, which appears on CSEA correspondence.
The specific court or administrative order number you want reviewed.
The full legal names of the obligor (paying parent) and obligee (receiving parent).

Below the identifiers, the form gives you two paths. If at least thirty-six months have passed since the most recent order, check that box; nothing else in the reason section needs to be completed. If less than thirty-six months have passed, check the second box and then select the specific circumstance from the numbered list beneath it.

The circumstance checkboxes are numbered 1 through 15 and each identifies whether the change applies to you or to the other parent. Pick the one that fits. If more than one applies, check all of them, but every box you check needs its own supporting documentation.

Confirm your current mailing address on the form before you send it. The CSEA sends every notice, including the eventual recommendation, by ordinary mail. A stale address can mean a missed deadline and an order change you never saw coming.

Documents to Attach

A JFS 01849 filed without documentation is the fastest route to denial or abandonment. The specific attachments depend on which reason you checked, and both parents will eventually be asked for income information, health insurance details, and other data the agency needs to run the guidelines.¹

For an income-based request, include recent pay stubs covering as long a stretch as you can pull together. The CSEA wants a picture of current gross earnings, not a single pay period. Self-employed parents should include federal tax returns with all supporting schedules from the most recent filing year. Proof of unemployment compensation or public assistance belongs in the packet if you receive either.

For a disability request, the CSEA needs verification of Social Security Administration disability benefits or a physician’s complete diagnosis and permanent disability determination.² A doctor’s letter noting a condition is not enough. The agency wants a formal determination that the disability is permanent and reduces earning ability.

For a health insurance or child care cost change, include documentation of the actual premium or expense figures. Ohio considers health insurance “reasonable in cost” if it does not exceed five percent of the insuring parent’s annual income, so provide both the premium cost and your income figures.³

If you are claiming a new dependent child who is not part of the current order, birth certificates or adoption records work as proof. The CSEA may also request a notarized personal statement or an employer verification letter.

Where and How to Submit

Send the completed JFS 01849 and every supporting document to your county CSEA. You can deliver the package in person or by mail.⁴ Certified mail with a return receipt gives you a dated record of submission, which matters because the 180-day processing window starts when the CSEA receives your request. Keep a full copy of what you sent.

What Happens After You File

The CSEA has fifteen days from receipt to screen your request and decide whether a full administrative review will go forward.⁵ The screening looks at eligibility, not at the support amount. If you filed on a qualifying circumstance, the agency confirms that your documentation actually supports it.

If the request passes screening, both parents get notice that the review is underway, and both are required to provide financial information. The CSEA then runs the numbers through Ohio’s child support guidelines, which use an income shares model and the Basic Child Support Schedule to calculate what today’s order would be.³

The 10% Threshold

Even if the recalculation produces a different number, the CSEA will only recommend an adjustment when the new amount is more than ten percent different from the existing obligation.⁶ A change in medical support provisions can trigger an adjustment on its own, but a small dollar swing will not. It is worth running rough numbers before you file, because a review that ends with no change still takes months.

The Recommendation

Within five days of finishing the review, the CSEA issues JFS 07724, “Administrative Adjustment Recommendation,” and mails a copy to both parties by ordinary mail.⁷ The recommendation sets out the agency’s findings and the proposed support amount. Start to finish, from receipt of your JFS 01849 to mailed results, can take up to 180 days.¹

If the CSEA Denies the Request

When the agency decides your request does not meet the criteria, whether because thirty-six months have not passed or because a claimed circumstance is not documented, it issues JFS 07613, “Administrative Adjustment Review Denial Notice,” with the reason.⁸ If the denial is because you did not provide requested information by the CSEA’s deadline, the agency may treat the review as abandoned. You can file a new JFS 01849 and start over, but the clock starts over too.

Objecting to the Recommendation

If either parent disagrees with JFS 07724, that parent can request an administrative adjustment hearing by submitting a written objection to the CSEA. The deadline is fourteen days after the recommendation is issued, not fourteen days after it lands in your mailbox.⁹

At the hearing, each party can present evidence and testimony for or against the CSEA’s calculations, and you can bring a representative. The hearing officer can weigh household expenditures, income variables, extraordinary health care issues, and other reasons to deviate from the standard calculation.⁹

If neither parent objects within fourteen days, the recommendation moves forward on its own. For court-issued orders, the CSEA submits the recommendation to the court for approval. For administrative orders, the CSEA issues a new administrative order directly.⁷

Tax Treatment Does Not Change

A modified support amount does not change how the payments are treated for federal tax purposes. Child support is tax-neutral: the paying parent cannot deduct payments, and the receiving parent does not report them as income. This has been the rule since 2018 and continues in 2026. Which parent claims the child as a dependent is a separate question governed by IRS rules, not by the JFS 07724 recommendation.

1
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Frequently Asked Questions
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 5101:12-60-05.1 – Initiation of an Administrative Review
3
Franklin County, Ohio. Child Support Guideline Manual
4
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Getting Started – Eligibility and Applying for Services
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 5101:12-60-05.3 – The Administrative Review
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 5101:12-60-05 – Administrative Review and Adjustment Process
7
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 5101:12-60-05.4 – Administrative Adjustment Recommendation
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 5101:12-60
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 5101:12-60-05.6