Family Law - Prospective Foster Care Parents and Out-of-Home Placements

HB 1205 requires local social services departments to provide prospective foster parents with a child’s medical, educational, and behavioral history directly relevant to their care. It increases the maximum number of children allowed in a single out-of-home placement from two to four. The bill also strengthens sibling placement requirements, mandating written justifications if siblings cannot be placed together and allowing separated siblings to petition courts for visitation rights. These changes directly affect foster parents, children in foster care, and local departments managing foster care placements.