Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Ohio program

Closer parking during treatment (temporary placard)

Ohio offers a temporary disabled-parking placard when your child meets a functional disability test.

What it is

Ohio offers a temporary disabled-parking placard when your child meets a functional disability test.

A placard depends on a qualifying walking, breathing, heart, vision or other listed functional limitation, not the cancer diagnosis or treatment phase alone. Your answers here have not assessed those limits. The social worker can help ask an authorized clinician whether a temporary placard is appropriate.

Eligibility rules
  • A temporary placard requires a listed functional limitation. An authorized physician, physician assistant, qualifying advanced-practice nurse, optometrist or chiropractor certifies within their professional authority. Cancer treatment alone does not establish eligibility.
  • The signed, dated prescription must describe the limitation and duration.
  • A physician, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse, optometrist or chiropractor can prescribe under the cited requirements.
  • BMV 4826 requires the original prescription.
What you get
  • An $8 temporary placard for up to six months of accessible parking.
What this covers
  • The temporary duration is six months or less; the prescription sets the ending date.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the clinic whether your child's walking or other functional limits meet the placard rules.
  2. If the clinician confirms a qualifying limitation and you choose to request the placard, the clinic or social worker can help prepare BMV 4826, the original prescription and the $8 fee.

Ohio BMV deputy registrar; your child's clinic · Official page ↗

After you apply
  • BMV 4826, revised March 2026, allows an adult caregiver or next of kin to sign for the child where appropriate. The temporary placard costs $8 and lasts no longer than six months.
Good to know

Cancer treatment or a central line alone does not establish eligibility. The prescription needs the functional limit and end date.

Other details
  • The child is the applicant even when a parent completes the paperwork.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Do my child's current limits qualify for a temporary placard, and would it help on treatment days? Could the clinic help with the form if it fits?”

Why I’m asking: I want to make the trip from the car to treatment easier when walking is difficult.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Fill in the placard form in your child's name and pay $8 at a deputy registrar (the license office).

Your social worker

Nothing, unless the clinic needs a nudge.

The care team

A doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner signs and dates the prescription part, with the limit and the end date.

Who decides
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) issues it on the clinic's signed form.
Ask the care team
“Can you sign the temporary disabled placard form for my child, with what my child cannot do and how long it is expected to last?”

How to apply

First step: Print the placard form (listed below), have the clinic fill in the prescription part, and take it with $8 to a deputy registrar (the license office).

  1. Ask the clinic to complete the prescription section of BMV 4826 at the next visit.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Form BMV 4826 with the clinician's prescription, at a deputy registrar

What to gather

  • Form BMV 4826 (the placard application)
  • Child's ID details

How long: Same visit at the license office.

What a yes looks like

A red temporary placard with an end date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether the clinic's part stated what your child cannot do and for how long.

Watch out

  • The clinic must write down what your child cannot do, and an end date. The diagnosis alone is not enough.
  • Apply in the child's name, not the parent's.
  • Temporary permit: $8, six months or less. Ask the clinician to document a qualifying walking limitation on BMV4826; cancer treatment or a central line alone is not a confirmed basis.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

Temporary placard, $8, 6 months or less, in the child's name, on the clinic's signed form.

  • $8 — Temporary placard fee
  • $6 (or less; the prescription sets the ending date) — Maximum duration
  • $200 — One qualifying criterion: cannot walk this far without stopping to rest

Covers: Disabled parking placard

What it costs the family: $8.

The eligibility facts, as published

Applicant
the application is completed in the name of the person with a disability
Criteria
functional (for example cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest); diagnosis alone is not the test
Prescriber
physician, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse, optometrist or chiropractor; signed and dated; duration stated
Duration
6 months or less for a temporary placard

Decisions this site cannot make: BMV issuance

Expect friction on: Clinician signature

The trap: The clinic's part must be signed, dated and give the end date. The current form is the March 2026 version (BMV 4826).

Where I read this

← Back to your options