Relating to foster parent training requirements for the licensure of individual child foster care providers

This bill relates to training requirements for the licensure of individual child foster care (foster care) providers. Under current law, an individual must complete hours of foster care training offered or approved by the department of health and human services (HHS) to obtain a foster care license. HHS may waive all or a portion of an individual’s training requirements based on the individual’s relevant training and experience. HHS may also waive all or a portion of the training based on the individual’s circumstances and the circumstances of the prospective foster child. An individual licensee is also required to receive six hours of foster care training annually prior to renewal of the individual’s foster care license. An individual licensee who cannot receive annual training because of active duty military service is considered to be in compliance for foster care license training purposes. The bill eliminates current hourly requirements for foster care training for initial foster care licensure and renewals of licenses. Instead, the bill allows HHS to determine appropriate training requirements for individuals based on the relevant experience of the individual, and the circumstances of both the prospective foster child and the individual. The bill details the topics that must be included in annual training for individual licensees.