OLYMPIA — Legislation sponsored by 13th District Rep. Tom Dent that would provide a “Bill of Rights” for foster parents recently passed the state House of Representatives.

House Bill 2785, if eventually passed by the Senate, would provide an official list of foster parents rights and responsibilities to foster parents. In a news release Dent explained the idea for the legislation came to him from a foster parent group in central Washington.

“After I met with the foster parent group I talked with staff and we looked over their list of requests and concerns and what we found out in our research is that many of the issues they wanted to address were already in state law,” Dent said. “I was a foster parent for a long time. If I had known about a lot of what was in statute, I may still be a foster parent today. Moving forward we are going to make sure those who want to be foster parents and those who are licensed foster parents know what their rights and responsibilities are.”

Under the bill, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families would be required to give foster parents a list of foster-parent related rights and responsibilities at the time of their orientation before they are licensed, when they are given their license and when they have their license renewed. In addition, the bill would not only create a list of foster parents rights and responsibilities, but the legislation says the list would be updated on an annual basis.

“Foster parenting is an incredibly difficult task. The challenges are immense,” Dent remarked. “Anything we can do to support or encourage new prospects and those who are still foster parenting is critical. Our foster care system is struggling as we are 1,000 foster parents short of where we need to be.”

The bill passed the House in a 97-0 vote and is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services and Corrections on Feb. 21, where further legislative action is expected.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.