TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Senate committee is considering legislation that would establish an experimental foster care program in Kansas open exclusively to adults in stable marriages of at least seven years and with a minimum of one stay-at-home spouse. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the bill would grant foster parents in the statewide pilot program an exemption from standard licensing applicable to child care facilities. Republican Senator Forrest Knox's proposal to the Senate Judiciary Committee would require foster parents in the trial program to be high school graduates and pass a background check. Participants would also have to enforce a household ban on drinking alcohol and smoking. The bill would also give foster parents sole discretion to determine schooling for the children in their care as well as limit the program to those active in their communities.
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