CONGRESSMAN COOK SPONSORS BILL ON FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT
The area’s congressman has allied himself with a bill that has the potential to improve the process of placing children in foster care. Dan Stork explains…
Rep. Paul Cook has signed on as an original cosponsor to H.R. 3923, the “Child Protection Enhancement Act of 2014.” This legislation would provide child welfare agencies with access to the FBI’s national criminal information databases to conduct background checks for accelerated foster care placement. In explaining his support, Cook said, “Currently, agencies can’t access criminal databases for use in foster care placement. This delays placement and hurts children who suffer from extended waiting periods due to bureaucratic hurdles. … This bill fixes the problem by allowing agencies to access the information they need to conduct federal background checks for expedited foster care placement.” Currently, the U.S. legal code supports access to national crime information databases for governmental social service agencies with child protection responsibilities, to be used by such agencies only in investigating or responding to reports of child abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
CONGRESSMAN COOK SPONSORS BILL ON FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT
