HB 2331 -- Foster Care and Adoption

Sponsor:  Franz

This bill establishes the Missouri State Foster Care and Adoption
Board within the Department of Social Services to provide
consultation and assistance to the department, draft and provide
an independent review of the foster care and adoption policies
and procedures of the Children's Division, and determine the
nature and content of in-service training that must be provided
to foster and adoptive parents in order to improve foster care
and adoption services consistent with Section 210.566, RSMo.  In
its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Specifies that the board must be comprised of foster and
adoptive parents, appointed by the Governor with the advice and
consent of the Senate, from each of the seven regional division
areas within the department;

(2)  Specifies the terms of the board members and its officers,
the procedures for filling board vacancies and the reimbursement
of the member's expenses, and that all members of the board must
serve for a term of at least two years and members may be
re-appointed to the board for consecutive terms;

(3)  Requires the board to establish procedures to:

(a)  Review the division's proposed policies, provide written
responses to the division indicating approval or disapproval, and
provide recommendations for changes within 30 days of receipt of
a proposed policy;

(b)  Provide draft policy suggestions, at the request of the
division or in response to issues by the board, to the division
for improvements in foster care or adoption; and

(c)  Fulfill its statutory requirement in accordance with Section
210.566 to determine the content of in-service training to be
provided by the division to foster and adoptive parents; and

(4)  Requires the board to submit an annual report on its
activities to the department director, the Governor, the Office
of the Child Advocate, and upon request to members of the General
Assembly.

The bill also requires the division to make reasonable efforts to
place siblings in the same foster care, kinship, guardianship, or
adoptive placement unless doing so would be contrary to the
safety or well-being of any of the siblings.  If siblings are not
placed together, the division must make reasonable efforts to
provide frequent visitation or other ongoing interaction between
siblings, unless this interaction would be contrary to a
sibling's safety or well-being.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm