(The Center Square) - The Arizona state House Government Committee passed a bill mandating the Arizona Department of Child Safety and the state court system prioritize kinship placements when a child is taken into the state's custody.
On Thursday afternoon, committee members voted 4-2 for House Bill 2035, with one representative voting "present."
HB 2035adds extended family members to the list of people whom children may be placed with in DCS's cases.
The bill would also require the DCS to assume that placing children with an extended family member or a person with a significant relationship is in their best interests.
HB 2035 mandates that at preliminary protective hearings, the state family court system must presume placing children with extended family or with people with whom they have significant relationships is in the children's best interest.
The bill defines an extended family member as "an adult person who has a connection to a child by marriage to a biological family member of the child."
Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Peoria, who is HB 2035's sponsor, said children do better when placed in kinship care.
Fink said her bill is "seeking to codify into law what's already DCS policy."
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Children deal with less trauma when placed with "familiar caregivers," as well as have reduced anxiety and behavioral problems due to maintaining "existing attachment bonds," she noted.
Compared to non-relative foster care, children in kinship care have lower rates of depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Fink noted, adding that they have better academic outcomes, too.
The state senator explained when kids go missing from state care, the lowest percentage comes from kinship care.
Even though this is the current DCS policy, Fink said the policy was not being followed as well as it should be.
Dianne Post, an Arizona attorney, spoke in favor of the bill because of the "overrepresentation of African Americans in the DCS system."
Astudyfrom the Common Sense Institute Arizona showed African Americans represent 20.2% of all children in DCS care, which is behind Hispanics (32.8%) and whites (32.4%).
She claimed African American culture, like Native American culture, "has an extended system, which is not recognized by the agency or by the courts."
A child is "better off in foster care with a family member or a kin than with an unknown foster family," she told the House committee.
