Hidden Foster Care Model Bill Introduction

View the model as adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of children in America are removed from their parents’ care and sent to live with friends, relatives, or neighbors in an effort to prevent formal foster care. Such arrangements, while legally intended to be voluntary, are often coerced, lack judicial oversight, and often have no plan for reunification. Making things worse, they are not included in the foster care numbers that States are required to provide to the federal government each year. 



In both the courts and the data, then, these cases are hidden.

The attached bill seeks to ensure that such arrangements are truly voluntary and that the rights of all parties—parents, interim caregivers, and children—are honored. It provides for basic due process protections for families faced with CPS agency demands to separate parents and children, including the right to counsel for parents. It further provides for tracking these arrangements in the State’s data and directs local or State agencies in providing for reunification.

Listen to three EPPiC Broadcast episodes about this here: