Should the identities of foster parents be kept secret? The Florida Coalition for Children is exploring the issue following a case in Miami where a foster parent was shot.
In one instance, information was leaked to a biological parent. The woman then drove to the foster parent’s house and shot her, kidnapping her two children.
Florida Coalition for Children’s CEO Kurt Kelly is concerned that incidents like this jeopardize the safety of children in the foster care system.
“We’ve had several issues that we’ve tried to address that’s going to need some legislative fix,” Kelly said. “Some areas like being able to protect the information about some of our foster families. We don’t want some of that information - if it gets out – it could be dangerous to them. So we’re looking at a lot of things like that this year.”
The organization also gave foster families the opportunity to engage in conversation with legislators.
"It's great for them to see what we're doing," Kelly said. "And I love that we have a specific group, one of my organizations inside the coalition, that is giving specialized training on how to go in and talk to their legislators and how to tell their positive story."
The Coalition is currently working on its agenda for the upcoming legislative session. According to a spokesperson, no bills have been proposed yet.
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