What Arizona legislators did and didn’t do for children this year.

When it comes to Arizona's children, the highest-profile action lawmakers took this session was boosting school funding.

But before the #RedforEd movement had mobilized, other measures were well on their way to becoming law.

Here are the top policy changes lawmakers made on child welfare, as well as a few things they didn't approve.

Free tuition for foster kids

Lawmakers made permanent a pilot program that offered free college and university tuition and fees to foster children. The concept had widespread support but there was a dispute over whose money would cover the bill. In the final budget negotiations, lawmakers decided the funding would come from the universities' funds.

In the five years of the pilot program, 182 students took advantage of the program, at a cost of $720,000.

Making foster life more normal

Kids in foster care have a hard time getting documents, such as birth certificates, immunization records and

Social Security numbers, that they need to apply for jobs, school or other endeavors.

Senate Bill 1380 aims to make that process easier for foster kids who are 16 or older. Foster-home parents (or a group-home operator) must get the needed documents from DCS within 60 days of the child being placed with the provider.

In addition, DCS must provide the child's foster home or group-home provider with the child's Social Security number within three months. A foster child 14 or older can request that DCS provide his Social Security card with a written notice, which must be responded to within four months.

Warrants for child removal

Beginning this summer, DCS must obtain court permission to remove a child from his parents' home. Senate Bill 1395 outlines exceptions to the requirement, namely:

❚ if there is no other viable alternative to keeping the child safe in the time it will take an investigator to electronically file a warrant request with the juvenile court;

❚ or if there's probable cause the child was the victim of sexual or other abuse that resulted in serious physical injury.

Adoption boost

People who are permanent guardians of a child in the Department of Child Safety will be eligible for an adoption subsidy under a bill sponsored by Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix. Their subsidy will be the rate currently paid to permanent guardians, which is less than the monthly adoption subsidy of about $600.

Blind persons’ rights

The fact that a parent is blind or visually impaired cannot be a reason for removing a child from his parents' care, for limiting parental visitation if the child is removed for other reasons, or for blocking a fosterhome placement.

Anyone who feels a child would be endangered by being placed in the care of a visually impaired person, or remaining with a visually-impaired parent, would have to prove that to a juvenile-court judge.

The bill won unanimous approval, even though there was no evidence that such situations have occurred in Arizona.

Two bills stirred controversy

Two bills ignited passions on both sides of the child-protection debate. One passed, the other was withdrawn after one hearing.

Lawmakers approved a bill that will speed up the timeline for severing parental rights in cases involving substance-exposed newborns. Parents get up to a year to get clean of drugs or other substances or risk losing their child for good.

Senate Bill 1473 also puts foster parents who have cared for a child age three or under for at least nine months on the same footing as the child's relatives when it comes to deciding the child's permanent placement. Parents and grandparents get first preference.

It passed with only one dissenting vote in the 90member Legislature, even though concerns remained that it runs counter to DCS' intent to do as much as possible to keep children with their parents.

Another measure would have abolished gun-safety rules for foster homes. Advocates said the state had no authority to impose restrictions on rights that are protected by the Second Amendment; opponents were appalled at the prospect of kids who are in state custody being kept in homes where guns could be easily accessed.

The sponsor of HB 2535 pulled the bill after one hearing. But DCS Director Greg McKay says the agency will take a look at changes to the gun-storage rules this summer.

These ideas flopped

Other child-centered bills did not fare as well. Lawmakers rejected proposals to give a tax break for diaper purchases. They also declined to give the administrators of the state's child-care program the authority to tap into $60 million in federal child-care dollars. And quickly killed a proposal that would have boosted payments for family members who care for children who have been removed from their parents' homes. These kinship placements receive a fraction of the state support provided to foster families.

The bills that were signed into law will be effective Aug. 3.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

Finding the best solutions for kids in Arizona's child-welfare system is just one of the many complex issues in this state. A three-year grant from the Arizona Community Foundation supports in-depth research on the topic at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

Are you part of the child welfare system? We want to hear your story. Go to childwelfare.azcentral.com.