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Senate hearing backs ban on using trash bags for foster children's belongings
Summary
Senator Janine Salman and former foster youth advocates urged the committee to bar the Department of Human Services from handing children trash bags when they are moved; Senate Bill 1016 would clarify and strengthen a 2023 law and require annual legislative reporting.
The Senate Committee on Human Services on Feb. 20 heard public testimony in support of Senate Bill 1016, which would prohibit the Oregon Department of Human Services from using trash bags to transport a foster child’s personal effects and would modify the department’s reporting requirements on the practice.
Senator Janine Salman (District 15), the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure is the culmination of several years of advocacy led by a constituent and nonprofit organizers who distribute duffel bags to foster children. Salman described efforts to accomplish the same goal through agency rulemaking after Senate Bill 548 passed in 2023 and said implementation has been inconsistent. “This is a growing national movement,” Salman said, urging the committee to pass clearer statutory language so the department cannot fall back on handing children trash bags.
Riley, a former foster youth and advocate with Project Never Again, gave extended testimony on the emotional effect of being moved with belongings in garbage bags. Riley described the experience as long‑lasting trauma and contrasted being given a tote or duffel bag with being handed a tied garbage bag. “The trauma that a trash bag can inflict on a child, no matter their age, is lifelong,” Riley said.
Salmon and witnesses said the sponsored legislation would also include technical amendments requiring the department to provide an annual report to the legislature for five years and would broaden the statutory definition of acceptable luggage carriers to accommodate sanitary concerns (for example, allowing temporary use of a sealed tote or box when items must be decontaminated before a duffel is provided).
Committee members expressed frustration that prior statutory language and rulemaking had not removed the practice in every case and asked staff to schedule further agency briefings. Senator Kosinski suggested inviting the agency head to a future session to explain implementation. Several senators said the measure is about restoring dignity to youth undergoing a traumatic transition and that clearer statutory language should remove ambiguity about exceptions.
The committee took public testimony and did not vote on the bill at the hearing. Testimony and proposed technical amendments will be entered into the record for further consideration.
