Lawmakers seek fixes to foster-care board appointment process after hearing on vacancies

Senate Bill 858 drew sustained discussion after witnesses described large vacancy rates on local foster care review boards and administrative bottlenecks in the current appointment process. Margaret Bodman, interim director of the Department of Children's Advocacy, told the subcommittee that local foster-care review boards are statutorily required to review every foster-child case at six-month intervals but that the system faces a 35–40% vacancy rate across roughly 215 seats statewide.

Lindsey Taylor, division director for the foster-care review division, said the multi-step appointment process creates bottlenecks and that the bill seeks to remove at least one step to improve coordination between legislative delegations and the Department of Children's Advocacy. Taylor said some delegations already send central-registry checks and that practices vary by county.

Andrea McCoy, state board chair of the Foster Care Review Board, urged caution about a provision that would allow state board appointees who have never served on a local board. "Having state board members appointed that have never served on any of the local boards would pose program issues because they would not have the knowledge or the exposure or experience of actually serving on a local board," McCoy said, and she asked that local members retain the ability to recommend candidates and that the process be standardized statewide to reduce delays.

After questions about removal authority, delegation notification and how the director would exercise appointment or removal power, the committee voted to carry S.858 over for further drafting and discussion.