AGENCY TESTIMONY
Discussion of proposed legislation for LGBTQAI+ youth in foster care
0:22:20
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98 sec
Commissioner Dannhauser discusses three proposed bills related to LGBTQAI+ youth in foster care and ACS operations. He provides initial feedback on each bill and expresses willingness for further discussions.
- Intro 56-2024: Annual survey of youth in foster care regarding LGBTQ status and racial identities
- Intro 8-2024: Reporting on allegation types in child protection reports
- Intro 81-2024: Quarterly audits of foster care placement change notifications
- Highlights potential challenges and areas for further discussion with the City Council
Jess Dannhauser
0:22:20
ACS appreciates the city council's ongoing interest in our work, and we look forward to discussing the 3 bills from today's hearing In more detail, intro 562024 require ACS to conduct an annual survey view in foster care regarding their LGBTQ status and racial identities and their foster care placements.
0:22:39
ACS appreciates the council's interest in this type of information regarding the youth and foster care and look forward to discussing ways to enhance the current annual survey of foster youth required pursuant to local law 146 of 2016, which is published annually as the youth experience survey.
0:22:56
Intro 8 2024 require ACS to report on allegation types and child protection reports.
0:23:01
This bill would include allegation types that are not specifically included in state law, and would not be able to be reported in the manner detailed in the state statute and state database ACS is required to use.
0:23:12
Specifically, the state allegation is drug alcohol misuse drug alcohol misuse, and the proposed legislation would require reporting marijuana related allegation except nearly, which is not feasible.
0:23:24
Notably, the use of marijuana is not an actual allegation of abuse or mild treatment.
0:23:29
For any substance misuse, legal or legal substance, it is the impact of the misuse and the ability to care for the child that could create mild treatment.
0:23:37
ACS looks forward to further discussions of this bill with counsel.
0:23:41
Intro 812024 would require ACS to conduct quarterly audits of foster care placement change notifications informing counsel when children of placement changes is critically important.
0:23:52
ACS looks forward to discussing with the city council, ways to enhance our practice to ensure councils aware of placement changes.
