Foster parents in Indiana must be licensed by the Indiana Department of Child Services.
They undergo rigorous training to ensure they are nurturing and protecting the children who have been placed in their care by the state. They must pass background checks, complete first aid courses and undergo home visits, among a dozen requirements.
Those guidelines, however, do not protect foster parents from harassment by the families of children placed into foster care.
In Noble County, a foster couple was harassed to the point that a mother was stalked and threatened with a shooting. In Steuben County, a foster mother received death threats from the biological mother of an infant in the woman's care.
In these cases, the foster parents would have to get a lawyer and seek a protection order on their own.
The overburdened and often criticized Department of Child Services can only seek protective orders for children removed from a biological parent's custody. It cannot get the judicial orders for foster parents.
In response, State Rep. Dennis Zent, R-Angola, wants to make it easier for foster parents to seek protective orders. He authored legislation that allows a petition to filed with juvenile court to order a person to refrain from contact with a foster family.
House Bill 1069 would also raise the penalty for battery on a foster family from a Class B Misdemeanor to a Level 6 felony, which is punishable by a prison term ranging between six and 30 months.
The legislation reinforces the value and importance of those serving as foster parents.
The elevation in penalty is similar to that of a battery on a police officer or teacher harmed in the line of duty. The bill has passed through the House and is in a Senate committee. The legislature should pass this provision, making it effective July 1.
But Zent's bill also points to the need for protections to be included in the foster parents' bill of rights. The Indiana DCS offers foster parents a bill of rights as a guideline.
Fifteen states have enacted a bill of rights for foster children, and 17 states have done so for foster parents. Indiana is not on that list. Requiring action by state legislatures, these bills of rights develop consistent state standards to help foster parents make decisions to ensure health and safety for foster youth.
Zent's bill adds legal definitions to the rights for foster parents. More importantly, it adds legal protections for these often selfless Hoosiers who want to help children in need.