Governor Mark Dayton recently signed into law the omnibus health and human services policy bill. Within this bill are a few statutory changes that essentially add up to "no smoking in foster homes/in the vicinity of children and youth in foster care." Prevention of Secondhand Smoke Exposure for Children in Foster Care The main statutory [...]
Today's guest blogger is Rachel Hanle. As of 2012, twenty-one states have passed laws or guidelines regulating the exposure of children in foster care homes to second-hand smoke. Because children who are in foster care are considered wards of the state, it is the state’s responsibility to provide them with living arrangements that protect and [...]
The delete-all amendment was recently posted for the Health & Human Services Policy omnibus bill. Within this amendment, under Article 1: Children and Family Services, there are provisions requiring smoke-free environments in foster homes. First, home studies of prospective foster parents would have to include the capacity of a foster parent to provide a smoke-free [...]
Although the Minnesota legislative session does not officially begin until February 25, quite a few bills were introduced in the interim on Monday. Because there are several that may impact children, youth, and families involved in child welfare (or at risk of involvement), I have decided to write two posts providing brief descriptions of these [...]