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House amends and circles DCFS foster‑care bill after lengthy debate over relatives' definitions
Summary
HB 312, which seeks faster approval and broader kinship placement for relatives in foster‑care cases, drew extensive floor debate over how broadly to define "relative" (step‑parents, stepsiblings, cousins and whether to use a Cox relationship chart); the House ultimately adopted several amendments and circled the bill for further work.
Representative Wayne A. Harper presented House Bill 312 to the floor on Feb. 21, 2000, framing it as a bill to expedite placement with relatives, expand the definition of kinship for foster‑care approval and allow the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) greater flexibility when federal rules change.
The bill proposes an expedited approval process for related families, an expansion of the kinship definition and longer preferential placement periods (90 days in certain cases). Representative Harper explained the measure responds to federal rule changes and is…
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