Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 1, 2022 01:56 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Milou Mackenzie |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Family Finding and Kinship Care Practices |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to increase the stability of foster children’s placements, thereby reducing the likelihood of them experiencing additional trauma and increasing their chances for long-term permanency and success in life. This can be accomplished by making small adjustments in the law that governs a practice called “family finding.” Family finding is based on the understanding that children do best when they are in the care of adults they know and trust, and with whom they have an emotional connection. In law since 2008, family finding and kinship care practices have been largely successful. However, there have also been a significant number of cases in which children have been tragically torn away from long-term foster families in order to be placed with “blood” relatives. Often, these foster families are the only real family the child has ever known. My legislation will build on the overall success of the family finding and kinship care model by: establishing the presumption that it is in the child’s best interest to maintain the current, successful, placement; clarifying the meaning of “kin” within the context of family finding by expressly including long-term foster parents; and, allowing the children and youth agency to stop trying to place children with relatives who have not expressed a willingness to provide a home for those children after six months of being informed of the need for a home. Please join me in championing these reforms, which can make such a positive difference in the lives of children who need every advantage they can get. |
Introduced as HB2381