ATLANTA (May 6, 2019) | Senate Bill 167, sponsored by Sen. Matt Brass (R – Newnan) was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp on May 2, 2019.
“When I first took office as a State Senator, I set the goal to do something to improve the child placement process for Georgia’s children in foster care and that passion ultimately resulted in Senate Bill 167,” said Sen. Brass. “After attending foster events in our district and across the state, and after hearing from numerous families and social workers about some of the difficulties associated with placing children, I introduced SB 167 with the intent of broadening the scope of caregivers who can look after a foster child. This bill will make it easier for foster children to be placed into homes of family, family friends or foster parents who have looked after them for an extended period of time. This legislation attempts to meet the needs of foster children and parents in our district and across Georgia to ensure that children are placed in homes full of love and familiarity. I want to thank Gov. Kemp for signing this bill and I commend him for his commitment to Georgia’s foster parents and foster children.”
SB 167 outlines the procedure that the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services must follow when searching for a placement home for a foster child. The bill also states that “if the court finds that the child has been living in a stable home environment with his or her current caregivers for the past 12 months and that removal of the child from such caregivers would be detrimental to the child’s emotional well-being, the court may presume that continuation of the child’s placement with his or her current caregivers is in the child’s best interests.”
To read the full text of SB 167, click the following link: http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20192020/SB/167
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For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2019
Andrew Allison, Broadcast Specialist
andrew.allison@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028