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SC S0415
Bill
AI Summary
- Lowers the minimum age for kinship foster parents from 21 to 18 years old for relatives and fictive kin caring for foster children.
- Authorizes the Department of Social Services to establish separate licensing standards for kinship foster care providers (relatives and fictive kin) that differ from standards applied to unrelated foster parent applicants.
- Allows placement of children with unlicensed relatives or fictive kin when it serves the child's best interests, while maintaining access to payments and services during the licensure process.
- Extends streamlined adoption procedures (waiving investigation requirements, accounting requirements, and waiting periods) to children in state custody who are placed with relatives or fictive kin for adoption.
- Prohibits discrimination in kinship foster care licensing based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, or marital status, consistent with the federal Multiethnic Placement Act.
Legislative Description
Child Welfare Caregivers
Last Action
Act No. 99
3/5/2026
Committee Referrals
Judiciary4/3/2025
Family and Veterans Services3/4/2025
Full Bill Text
No bill text available