Senate passes foster parents bill of rights legislation

STATE HOUSE – The Senate today voted 36 to 0 to approve legislation sponsored by Sen. Joshua Miller directing the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to develop a foster parents’ bill of rights that defines the roles and responsibilities of foster parents and provides them with basic protections.

“Foster parents provide a vital service to the state and to the children to whom they offer their homes. There are often obstacles they face in providing stability for their foster children, and the goal of this legislation is to ensure that there is at least is some basic guide to what the state expects of them, and what they are can expect from the state,” said Senator Miller, a Democrat who represents District 28 in Cranston and Warwick.

The bill resulted from hearings conducted last year by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, of which Senator Miller is a member, into matters concerning foster children in DCYF care. During those hearings, foster parents testified about their relationship with DCYF and their need for a uniform set of principles to assist them and guide them in their roles as foster parents.

Under the bill (2009-S 0583Aaa), DCYF would have until Jan. 1 to develop a bill of rights that would, at a minimum, address the role of the foster parent within the child welfare team, training for foster parents, the timely sharing of appropriate information about the foster child and confidentiality of the parents’ personal issues as required by law. It would also have to address access to support and services for the foster child, including 24-hour emergency and urgent telephone support, timely notifications about meetings and court dates pertaining to the child and the ability to participate in those meetings as appropriate, timely financial reimbursement and investigation of alleged license violations and foster child abuse and appeals of those investigations.

DCYF would be required to provide a copy of this bill of rights to all foster parents upon their training, or upon placement of the child in cases of kinship foster families.

“This is a matter not only of protecting the interest of the children, the foster families and the state, but also developing a better relationship between the state and foster families. Clearly defining everyone’s roles and responsibilities will help the whole placement process run more smoothly for everyone, and that will make being a foster parent more fulfilling for current foster families and future ones,” said Senator Miller.

For more information, contact:

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State House Room 20

Providence, RI 02903

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