A bill in California passed last week requiring foster families to, “demonstrate an ability and willingness to meet the needs of the child regardless of the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”
California state Sen. Scott Wiener announced Senate Bill 407’s passing, claiming that his bill to “ensure foster parents understand the need to support LGBTQ foster youth.”
“Our bill to ensure foster parents understand the need to support LGBTQ foster youth — who are 30% of foster youth — & not kick them out, abuse them, or traumatize them (SB 407) is on its way to the Governor, having passed both the Senate & the Assembly,” Wiener wrote on X. “Thank you, colleagues!”
Wiener claimed that 30% of California’s foster children identify as LGBTQ and need “protection from physical and psychological abuse” coming from foster parents.
“Youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or another diverse identity (LGBTQ) and gender-expansive youth are overrepresented in foster care, with at least three studies estimating about 30 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ,” Wiener said.
From Fox News:
Along with customary expectations for foster families, the bill says that the foster parents must demonstrate "an ability and willingness to meet the needs of the child regardless of the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and that, should difficulties around these issues arise, a willingness to obtain resources offered by the county or foster family agency or other available resources to meet those needs," to become foster a child in California.
