Bill > HB1921

This bill amends the Child Welfare Agency Licensing Act to modify training requirements for foster parents in Arkansas. Specifically, the legislation limits the Division of Children and Family Services to requiring no more than 15 hours of initial training for foster home approval and 6 hours of annual training to maintain that approval. The bill also introduces a streamlined training process for "provisional foster homes" (likely referring to relatives or kinship caregivers becoming foster parents), allowing for reduced training hours. The Division of Children and Family Services is granted the flexibility to further reduce these hourly requirements through rule-making. This change aims to make becoming and remaining a foster parent less burdensome, potentially encouraging more individuals, especially relatives, to become foster parents by reducing the time and training commitment required.