Legislative Update
We are eager to update our CASA community on recent bills that passed as part of this year's legislative session. Although there were numerous bills on the docket, very few of them passed. Our continuous efforts, however, will not be halted. On April 11th, 2022, the 2022 legislative session in Annapolis concluded. The Maryland CASA staff and with the assistance of two interns, Raquel (Rockie) Pompey, and Julia Rich, reviewed and tracked nearly 60 bills. These bills were related to child protection and vital legislative changes needed to advocate for vital child protection.The highlighted bills that were passed included increases in child welfare and foster care services, increases in funding for foster care providers, behavioral health services, and non-public special education schools. All of these help children to continue to have equal access to necessary resources.In addition to these necessary increases, a bill was passed that will increase funding for the education of children in residential treatment centers (HB 766/ SB 656) passed. A bill also aimed at improving the timeliness of investigations of suspected child abuse and neglect (HB 1248/SB820) was also, passed. In this session, the Paid Family & Medical Leave bill (HB 8/ SB 275), which includes coverage for foster and adoptive parents passed.As mentioned previously, many bills that were not passed in this session will be reintroduced in the 2023 legislative session. While our CASA community is disappointed this occurred, our community will continue to work with other child welfare organizations to advocate the critical placement of children and youth with strong behavioral and mental health needs.As a community, we celebrate our wins during the 2022 legislative session. Maryland CASA will continue its legislative efforts. These efforts help to change a child’s story throughout Maryland and provide appropriate placements to ensure children are safe, healthy, and provided with the vital support they need. As we look ahead to our 2023 legislation efforts related to child welfare, you can learn more about our process and sign up for our legislative alerts here.