Bill > H76

This bill establishes an interagency child welfare task force composed of various state agencies, the child advocate, and representatives of parents and youth formerly in state care, to coordinate services for children and families, and it mandates that children in foster care have opportunities for summer camp, after-school care, and school vacation programs. The bill also enhances protections and support for children in the care of the Commonwealth by improving educational stability for foster children, ensuring timely transfer of school records, and allowing them to remain in their school of origin when in their best interest. Furthermore, it creates a child abuse and neglect expert review panel to examine repeated entries into state care, requires the child advocate to investigate a sample of critical incidents, and mandates the development of life-skills curricula and individual savings accounts for youth in state custody. The bill also allows children aged 12 and older, under specific circumstances, to petition the court to vacate an order terminating their parents' rights if it's in their best interest, and it requires mandated reporters to complete child abuse and neglect training.