This legislation which would give Foster Children some protections was stripped of protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the House version which passed in May.

The legislation sits before the Senate Committee on Aging and Youth

This is one of those under the radar, but very important issues for our community. I worked in foster care and can testfiy that there are plenty of parents who would not be supportive if a child in their care came out or was out when they were placed.  That child would end up in a group home setting PDQ and there's also nothing to protect them there. 

This is where we need decisive leadership to work with legislators to protect our children.  The stripped down version of the bill passed unanimously, which is good for foster children in general, but very telling about the value our elected officials place on some of the most vulnerable kids in our Commonwealth.

Let's all contact Daylin Leach who sits on this Senate Committee to see what we can do to get the language back in or at least learn if its viable.  If you tweet, @daylinleach. 

This is one of those baby steps we need to take for our children.