Legislature Completes Work On Foster Care Reform Bill

The General Assembly has completed work on a foster care reform bill and sent it to Governor Bob Holden. The reforms came in the wake of the death of two-year-old Dominic James, the southwest Missouri boy who died in state-approved foster care. The bill looks to privatize some foster care operations, requires better background checks for foster parents, and allows the state to fire family services workers when a child dies or is injured because a worker violated written policy or state law. It now awaits Governor Holden’s signature.