Legislative developments
.... recapping state legislative actions on child welfare.
Here in Georgia, our 2025 legislative session just ended with some very positive developments for children and youth who have experienced foster care, so it’s a good time to highlight state legislative developments.
Georgia’s General Assembly passed two significant bills that will improve services for young adults who experienced foster care. For several years, the state has offered tax credits for individuals and companies that donate to nonprofits serving former foster youth. This year, the legislature expanded the amount of credits available annually from $20mm to $30mm and also expanded the population that can benefit. Under the new law, tax-credited donations can be used to provide a wide range of services for any young adult, up to age 25, who was in foster care for at least six months after reaching the age of 14 as well as some youth who were involved with juvenile justice authorities. Youth can benefit if they are attending college or a vocational program or are pursuing an apprenticeship. Read more here.
Georgia also passed an innovative new program, funded by the Governor’s budget, that will provide scholarships to Georgia public and private colleges for youth who were in foster care as teens, were adopted from foster care after the age of 14, or were adopted as a special needs child. The law provides funding for any expenses that other grants or federal funding may not cover, including housing and a meal plan.
Finally, Georgia’s House of Representatives has commissioned a study committee to look into the problem of children (many with complex needs) being abandoned to the foster care system at hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
[Edited: I forgot to add this one!] Maryland’s legislature has passed a bill to improve transparency around deaths of children in foster care. It’s one that Ben Bell and I have been working on for a number of years.
Arizona has a new law expanding the requirements for mandated reporting of child abuse. Here are more details.
Oregon’s Senate has passed a bill that expands the rights of foster children and youth, including the right to decline to be part of a faith community.
Montana, on the other hand, is close to adopting a bill protecting the rights of prospective foster parents to exercise their religious beliefs without suffering discrimination from the state. Kansas’ Governor recently vetoed a similar bill in her state.
The Illinois Senate is considering legislation to create a task force on juvenile justice reform.
Idaho’s Governor just signed a bill that significantly expands the budget for the child welfare agency. The current head of child welfare in Idaho, Alex Adams, has been nominated to run the federal Administration for Children and Families.
North Carolina appears poised to make some reforms to prevent inappropriate removals of children who are doing well in a foster home.
Last but by no means least, legislators in Colorado are ramming through a bill that makes “misgendering” or “deadnaming” your child the equivalent of emotional abuse.
And in other news:
As a reminder of why what happens at state capitols is so important, read this horrid NYT story of a woman who locked her stepson away in her home when he was 12, and how he was only rescued 20 years later despite years and years of reports made to authorities by concerned citizens.
As Texas has made it harder to remove children based on allegations of abuse and neglect, Texas Public Radio has put together an exhaustively researched, must-read series on children who have died after being left with their abusers despite repeated CPS report.
More discussion of the defanging of the (now former) Pennsylvania Child Advocate.
A Missouri foster parent is accused of trying to exchange her foster child for a monkey. Especially concerning is that the foster parent had cared for over 200 children in Missouri’s custody, had apparently abused the child repeatedly, and had been the subject of many reports to the state’s child abuse hotline.
An interesting GAO report on the use of TANF in child welfare.
If you see any interesting legislative developments, please let us know! Thanks for reading, and thank you to our subscribers for your support.