Committee advances amendment to HB256, agrees to revisit bill language on caregiver definitions

Chairman Gullett presented HB256, a substitute to update the foster parent bill of rights, to the Judiciary juvenile committee and said the measure ‘‘just clarifies existing rights around communication, training, case plan participation, and normalcy for children’’ while not changing judicial custody or adding new spending.

The sponsor told members the substitute recognizes today’s range of placements — including private agencies, relative caregivers and fictive kin — and adds administrative protections for caregivers, including an explicit anti-retaliation provision, a formal administrative grievance process and a right to request a certified volunteer advocate to accompany a caregiver during investigations or disputes. ‘‘Ultimately, this is just a stability and retention bill,’’ he said, citing national figures that 30–50 percent of foster parents leave each…