Foster child bill of rights bill heads to governor’s desk

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ)—Kentucky’s foster child bill of rights’ bill will soon be delivered to the governor after receiving final passage by a vote of 94-1 today in the Kentucky House.

The list of 16 statutory rights for children in out-of-home placement in Kentucky is a key component of House Bill 158, sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tempore David Meade, R-Stanford, who told his House colleagues last month that the list complements a foster parent bill of rights already in statute.

Included on HB 158’s list of rights for foster children are the rights to “adequate food, clothing and shelter,” “a safe, secure, and stable family,” and “freedom from physical, sexual, or emotional injury or exploitation,” among several others.

HB 158 would also require background checks on child residential home staff as required under a 2018 federal law, and clarify rules for searches of the state’s “putative father” registry—a state registry created by the 2018 General Assembly for men who want parental rights to a child they claim to have fathered.

Additionally, HB 158 would reduce the time for a mother, father or other legally consenting individual to voluntarily place a child for adoption. Meade said a person’s voluntary consent to place a child for adoption is final after 20 days under current state law. HB 158 would reduce that period to 72 hours.

The 72-hour period is standard in several states, said Meade.

“I talked to someone the other day who’s adopting a child out of state, and they asked the attorney of the child-placing agency ‘Why do you not come to Kentucky to adopt children?’ And he said ‘Because your revocation period is far too long and parents do not want to adopt from there,’” Meade told the House. “That is why many of our parents are adopting from out of state.”

“We’re coming in line to help get some of our children adopted,” he added.

Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, who voted in favor of the bill, spoke on the revocation period change.

“Certainly you want mothers to make a sound decision when they make a decision,” said Stone. “Hopefully this will help them do that quickly.”

The Senate approved HB 158 on a 36-0 vote earlier in the day today.

—

Media release from the Legislative Research Commission