HB 18-1348 Summary

• Allows judicial departments and child welfare agencies to provide prospective and current foster parents with information necessary to meet foster children's physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, and trauma needs.

• Information that may be shared with foster parents includes educational records, relevant family services plan information, circumstances of removal, and youth placement history with safety concerns.

• Requires school districts to provide foster parents access to education records and reports for students in their care, including online information.

• Prioritizes child care assistance funding for certified foster parents, certified kinship foster parents, and noncertified kinship care providers caring for children with open child welfare cases.

• Requires foster parents to maintain confidentiality of all information received under these provisions, subject to applicable state and federal law protections for medical and mental health records.