FOSTER-PARENT RED TAPE HURTS FAMILIES AND TAXPAYERS

RULES FOR BECOMING a foster parent are meant to keep kids safe. But many of these rules make it needlessly difficult to find appropriate homes for children whose biological parents are unable to care for them

- MARINA NITZE

Every state sets its own foster parent licensing rules; the only federal requirement is a background check. Beyond that, as long as a state follows its own rules, it can receive federal reimbursement for financially supporting caregivers.

If an adult has lived in another state in the last five years, the federal Adam Walsh Act requires checking that state’s child abuse and neglect registry. The background check also looks for “barrier crimes.” If any adult in the home committed such a crime, a state can’t get federal dollars for that home.

Although the latter rule may seem reasonable when you look at the seven felonies on the federal list, the logic breaks down quickly when you see the barrier crimes that states have added. In Kansas, for instance, walking your dog off-leash (“permitting a dangerous animal to be at large”) is a barrier crime.

That is not the only sort of additional barrier that states have erected. Requirements can include recycling, homeowner’s insurance, up-to-date dog registration, the “correct” number of egress points (Native American longhouses do not qualify), and a hand-drawn scale model of your home.

In Maryland, it is against the law for foster children to sleep in bunk beds. Applicants in every state are also subject to a “home study” that includes invasive questions about their sex lives and relationships with their parents.