BILL REQ. #:  S-1478.1 

Read first time 02/13/2003.   Referred to Committee on Children & Family Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to the involvement of the birth family in foster care; amending RCW 13.34.260; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature to recognize that there persists a large group of children who spend a significant part of their life in foster care - traumatized by an unrelieved separation, connected by blood ties that can be broken but never forgotten, torn between loyalties to birth family and foster family, alienated from memories both good and bad, disinherited from genetic endowment, ethnicity, and lineage and trying to face the future without a foundation from their past. Societal change warrants flexibility and openness to an expanded continuum of care arrangements. Interventions must focus on the best interests of the child. It is vital that full regard be given for active partnership of birth parents to the degree they are capable, within the foster care team. It is in the best interest of the child to do so. The ultimate purpose of any intervention into the life of a child is to improve it. Creating and sanctioning a connection between a child's birth parents and foster family will result in better relationships among birth families, children, foster families, and social workers. It will provide greater foster placement stability and decreased disruptions as well as greater satisfaction for foster parents and social workers. It is the intent of the legislature to stress that all those individuals connected to the child in placement must have an abiding appreciation of the seriousness of a child's separation from the past whether it be of short, long, or permanent duration. Every child has a history and every foster child comes into placement with that history. It is the intent of the legislature to recognize and honor that history.

Sec. 2   RCW 13.34.260 and 2002 c 52 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In an attempt to minimize the inherent intrusion in the lives of families involved in the foster care system and to maintain parental authority where appropriate, the department, absent good cause, shall follow the wishes of the natural parent regarding the placement of the child. Preferences such as family constellation, sibling relationships, ethnicity, and religion shall be considered when matching children to foster homes. Parental authority is appropriate in areas that are not connected with the abuse or neglect that resulted in the dependency and shall be integrated through the foster care team.
     (2) When a child is placed in out-of-home care foster parents are encouraged to:
     (a) Provide consultation to the foster care team based upon their experience with the child placed in their care;
     (b) Mentor the birth parents by helping them understand their child's needs and correlating appropriate parenting responses;
     (c) Participate in educational activities, and enter into community-building activities with birth families and other foster families;
     (d) Transport children to family time visits with birth families and assist children and their families in maximizing the purposefulness of family time.
     (3) For purposes of this section, "foster care team" means the foster parent currently providing care, the currently assigned social worker, and the parent or parents; and "birth family" means anyone with whom the child is significantly connected, whether through blood, marriage, partnering, or friendship.