Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances bill tightening visitation rules for children in foster care
Summary
Senate Bill 1257, introduced by Rep. Josh Wheeler with Sen. Melissa Winthrop as cosponsor, would move child-visitation guidance into statute, allow remote contact options and give courts clearer authority to restrict in-person visits after substantiated severe abuse; the bill was advanced to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after testimony from Department officials, foster parents and child-welfare advocates.
Representative Josh Wheeler introduced Senate Bill 1257 as a measure to clarify how visitation should be handled when children are in state custody, including allowing in-person, video, phone and written contact and establishing safeguards when there are substantiated findings of severe physical or sexual abuse.
"This is another step in improving the state's foster care system," Wheeler said, adding the bill moves established best practices and rules into statute. Senator Melissa Winthrop, joining as a cosponsor, described the proposal as a balance between parental rights and child safety.
Jean Fisher, administrator for youth safety and permanency at the Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee the bill would shift decisionmaking authority and written findings about visitation to the courts when abuse has been substantiated and would help the state during federal audits by clarifying the court's role. Fisher explained the child-protection standard (clear and convincing evidence) differs from the criminal standard (beyond a reasonable doubt) and that this bill is intended to give courts better guidance when deciding whether visitation is safe.
Multiple foster parents and people with lived experience gave emotional testimony describing how court-ordered visitation after substantiated abuse retraumatized children; Ivy Walker, Nicole Egbert, Monique Perry and others urged the committee to move the bill forward. Representative Kaler and others probed legal and due-process implications, including how the Attorney General or DAGs might assist county prosecutors on difficult child-protection cases.
After debate and a roll-call series of motions, the committee rejected a substitute motion to hold the bill (motion failed 4 ayes, 12 nays) and then voted to send Senate Bill 1257 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation (roll call recorded as 13 ayes, 3 nays). Representative Wheeler is expected to carry the bill on the floor.
