The Biden administration is shifting to make it simpler for caregivers to take members of the family into the foster care system, requiring states to offer them with the identical monetary assist some other foster dwelling would obtain.
byTom Murphy AP Well being Author
September 27, 2023 at 5:11 pm
FILE – Well being and Human Companies Secretary Xavier Becerra testifies throughout a Home Methods and Means Committee listening to, March 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Biden administration is shifting to make it simpler for caregivers to take members of the family into the foster care system, requiring states to offer them with the identical monetary assist some other foster dwelling would obtain. The administration can also be searching for to offer extra protections for LGBTQ+ kids. (AP Photograph/Maryam Zohaib, File)
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The Biden administration is shifting to make it simpler for caregivers to take members of the family into the foster care system, requiring states to offer them with the identical monetary assist some other foster dwelling would obtain.
It additionally proposed a brand new regulation geared toward making certain that LGBTQ+ kids in foster care are shielded from abuse due to their sexual orientation or gender identification.
Greater than 391,000 kids had been in foster care in 2021, in keeping with a report from the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies. Many have been faraway from their properties and positioned in foster properties because of neglect, bodily abuse, or drug abuse by mother and father. The common age of a kid in foster care was 8 years.
About 35% of them had been positioned in a relative’s dwelling, the report mentioned.
HHS issued a last regulation Wednesday permitting states to streamline the method for members of the family to turn out to be caregivers.
“We will begin giving the household an opportunity to be an actual household for these youngsters, particularly for the grandparents who oftentimes carry loads of the burden and are by no means acknowledged for what they do,” mentioned Division of Well being and Human Companies Secretary Xavier Becerra.
HHS additionally developed a proposed rule that will, amongst different issues, require coaching for foster care suppliers on find out how to meet the wants of an LGBTQ+ little one. States might be allowed to design such coaching programmes.
This proposed rule might be open for public remark for 60 days earlier than finalization.
One other proposed rule would enable Native American tribes to be reimbursed for the authorized prices of intervening in a state foster care court docket case over a baby’s parental rights.
(Tags for translation) Foster Care