No. 06-4638      Smith et al. v. Williams-Ash                                                              Page 2

No. 06-4638      Smith et al. v. Williams-Ash                                                              Page 5

the children with their temporary caregivers by filing a civil complaint against the Smiths. See Ohio
Rev. Code § 2151.353(A)(2) (authorizing Ohio’s juvenile courts to award temporary custody of
neglected children to a public services agency). Questioning about the timing of a procedure opted
for to avoid the potential of a more onerous one—a formal custody proceeding—cannot tenably be
viewed as equivalent to opting out. We do not doubt that the Smiths, as any parents likely would,
resented the safety plan from the beginning. But mere displeasure and frustration fails to negate
their consent. Rather than remind Williams-Ash of what she already knew—that they disliked the
plan—the Smiths needed to explicitly withdraw the consent they explicitly gave, thus requiring
Children’s Services to either return the children or file a formal complaint against them. In light of
their admitted failure to do so, the Smiths were not entitled to a hearing.