BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Idaho lawmakers advanced a bill aimed at strengthening protections for children in foster care, after hearing emotional testimony about abuse, trauma, and delays in stopping unsafe visitation.
The House Health and Welfare Committee unanimously passed the Foster Child Safety Act and sent it to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation.
“These are children who need our help,” said Rep. Lori McCann, before voting in favor. “We are the gatekeepers of what happens to these children.”
The sponsor of HB724 , Representative Josh Wheeler, described the bill as a list of rights for foster kids that codifies best practices of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to ensure the protection of foster children’s safety, health, and access to necessities.
“It articulates several fundamental safety protections so everyone involved in the system, courts, case workers, foster parents, and advocates, are all operating from the same clear understanding of those expectations,” Rep. Wheeler said.
The first testimony in support came from Dr. Kylie Billingsly, a child psychologist and foster mom. She said she had the painful task of collecting several stories to present to the committee at the hearing and in a paper packet.
“As I organized and formatted these stories, I was heartbroken,” Dr. Billingsley said. “These are not decades-old failures; these are current cases right now.”
Misty Cook read a letter written by another foster mom. In the letter, she wrote that a caseworker told her she could not take just one of two brothers; she needed to take both, and IDHW would not make an exception. The foster mother then wrote, “But nothing was done to make sure it was healthy for them to be together.” She claimed the oldest boy, who suffered sexual abuse, began sexually abusing his little brother and her biological daughter. “My oldest still deals with PTSD for the things her brother did to her, and she has tried to commit suicide several times.” The mother wrote, ‘it was hell’ to get the older boy out of her house, and when he was, IDHW did nothing to help her kids or him recover from either layer of abuse.
After reading the letter, Cook said, in between sobs, ” We need to do better protecting [foster kids].”
Monique Peyre testified about her experience with her youngest foster child, now her adopted son. She said he came to her house barely breathing, malnourished, dehydrated, and suffering from other medical conditions. She said doctors told her that if IDHW hadn’t taken him from his biological parents’ home that day in 2022, the six-month-old would have died within weeks. She said IDHW then arranged regular visits between him and his biological parents, which resulted, each time, in his health deteriorating for weeks.
“Children’s rights are not always given equal weight,” said Peyre. “In our case, it took a year of extreme suffering for this baby, repeated hospitalization, exhaustive documentation, and medical advocacy before visitation was paused temporarily. It should not take this much time for a child’s right to safety to be protected.”
Rep. Wheeler ended testimony by saying, “We can and should be remembered as some of the most pro-life legislators in the history of the state as we continue to protect the life and safety of these foster children.”
The Foster Child Safety Act is one of three bills moving through the Legislature inspired by the experience of the three siblings Peyre adopted last year and their baby brother, who died in the care of their biological parents in Nampa in December.
Isaiah’s Law would give the court a framework to pause visitation with the biological family in cases of substantiated physical or sexual abuse. It passed the Senate.
Benji’s Law was printed in the House last week. It would ensure urgency in checking on a baby born to parents with a history of abuse, neglect, or parental rights terminations.
————————————————
