HB 1481 -- FOSTER PARENTS

CO-SPONSORS:  Bray, Hanaway

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Children,
Families and Health by a vote of 14 to 0.

Currently, the Division of Family Services in the Department of
Social Services is the state agency responsible for providing
foster care services in Missouri.  This bill specifies the rights
and responsibilities of foster parents, the State of Missouri,
and contractors pertaining to foster care services.

The bill:

(1)  Requires the state and its contractors to treat foster
parents with respect.  Foster parents are required to treat
foster children, their birth families, and the child welfare team
with respect;

(2)  Requires the state and its contractors to provide foster
parents with training and support.  The state and its contractors
are required to disclose to foster parents all relevant
information about the foster child, the birth family, and the
case plan for assisting in the proper placement of a foster
child.  Except in emergencies, the state and its contractors are
required to arrange pre-placement visits;

(3)  Allows foster parents to inquire about a child's case plan,
encourage a placement, or refuse a placement without reprisal
from a caseworker or agency;

(4)  Requires the state to provide new information about a foster
child to foster parents after placement;

(5)  Requires foster parents to seek all necessary information
and to participate in pre-placement meetings when considering
whether to accept a foster child for placement.  Foster parents
are required to receive proper notice of scheduled meetings and
staffings consistent with Section 210.760, RSMo, pertaining to
foster care hearings;

(6)  Requires the state to establish procedures for reasonably
accessible respite care for children in foster care consistent
with Section 210.545, pertaining to respite care facilities;

(7)  Requires foster parents to provide care that respects a
child's values, needs, and cultural identity and to make daily
decisions about the living concerns of the child.  Discipline
should be administered in a humane and sensitive manner.  Foster
parents are not prohibited from practicing their family values
and routines and are allowed to help plan the visitation of the
child's biological family.  Flexibility and cooperation are
required of foster parents concerning family visits;

(8)  Gives a foster child's family first consideration for
adoption if the child becomes free for adoption while in foster
care.  If adoption is not pursued, foster parents are required to
support the placement of the child in a permanent home;

(9)  Maintains the confidentiality rights of the child and the
foster parents;

(10)  Authorizes foster parents to request information from the
state about a child's progress after leaving foster care.  The
current policy of the division concerning the disclosure of
reasons for removing a child from a foster family is maintained.
If the child re-enters the foster care system, the child's foster
parents are given the option for placement; and

(11)  Requires that foster parents be informed in a timely manner
of all court hearings and their right to attend and to
participate in the hearings.  Foster parents are allowed access
to a placement agency's appeals process and retaliation against
foster parents who exercise their right to appeal is prohibited.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill is a "foster care bill
of rights" and implements the foster care requirements of the
Division of Family Services.  The bill does not expand the rights
and responsibilities pertaining to foster care, but codifies the
rights and requirements in statute.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Bray; Foster Care and
Adoption Coalition; Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association;
and Citizen's for Missouri's Children.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Joseph Deering, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated October 11, 2002 at 9:01 am