Update: Georgia House Bill 1085: Foster
Connections Compliance Passes House
**03/10/10** HB 1085 (Fostering
Connections) passed the Georgia House of Representatives by a vote
of 150 Yea - 3 Nea. The bill now moves to the Senate. Now is the
time to begin speaking with Senators and asking for their support.
**
Sponsored by Floyd County State Representative
Katie Dempsey, this bill is designed to bring Georgia into
compliance with federal foster care and adoption legislation. The
bill has three primary areas of focus.
1) Sibling Placements - Requires that
siblings that are taken into foster care must be placed togehter
unless such placement would be contrary to their best interest. In
the event that sibligns cannot be placed together, reasonable
visitaiton between the siblings must be assured.
2) Educational Stability While in Foster
Care - Requires that DFCS maintain the child in the school
that they attended prior to foster care placement if possible. If
not possible, requires that DFCS work with local school authorities
to assure immediate enrollment in a new school with all educational
records transffered in a timely manner.
3) Transition planning - For older
youth, requires that DFCS work with them 90 days prior to their
19th birthday or their eventual exit from foster care to establish
a personalized plan for their future, including: housing, eduation,
work, health insurance, mentorin and other support services.
FaithBridge supports this legislation and
submitted its letter of support to Georgia House Children and Youth
Committee in February 2010. A copy of that letter is below.
Georgians, please join us in
support of this legislation by contacting your local
legislators and tell them that this bill
is important to the safety and stability of Georgia's foster
children.
To whom it may concern:
I am writing today to communicate my
support of the Fostering Connections Compliance Bill (HB 1085)
being heard by the Georgia House Children and Youth Committee on
Tuesday, February 16. The bill provides a number of provisions that
improve lives and opportunities for children and youth in foster
care, but to me, perhaps the most salient points of this proposed
legislation are those that deal with sibling
co-placement and educational
stability.
The trauma that occurs when children are
separated from their parents is only further exacerbated when
siblings are separated in foster care. To ensure the best possible
outcomes, all reasonable efforts must be made to keep siblings
together and/or in close proximity to one another. Our organization
and its partner churches is already delivering sibling co-placement
and visitation through a model we call Community of
CareSM. The Community of Care is a unprecedented
organizational model that creates a support system for foster
families and trained volunteers--all centrally supported and
organized by a local church. Quite often, this support allows us to
place siblings together under a single roof. However, when that is
not the case, siblings are placed in the church community and not
only have regular visitation, but also participate in the same
activities, church programs and receive consistent, loving support
from Christian families committed to their safety and
development.
Likewise, educational stability for
children undergoing separation from their parents is a natural and
reasonable expectation. Keeping foster children in a familiar
educational environment and within their county of origin will help
to lesson their trauma. At FaithBridge, we have targeted
recruitment, training and support of foster families through local
church partners, enabling us to keep children in stable educational
situations. Again, this helps to provide consistent, loving support
from families committed to the child's best interest and ongoing
development.
This legislation would not only assure
Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) compliance with the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions
Act of 2008, but it ensures that we wisely and appropriately act on
behalf of the children entrusted to our care.
Sincerely,
Bill R. Hancock
Founder and President
FaithBridge Foster Care
bill@faithbridgefostercare.org