House Bill 2350 amends Tennessee Code Annotated to enhance the rights and responsibilities of foster parents regarding the care and legal proceedings involving children in their custody. Specifically, it introduces a new requirement that if a child is in the legal custody of the department and has been placed with a foster parent for nine or more consecutive months, the department must provide that foster parent with a copy of any petition related to the child. This requirement applies within seven days of the petition's filing, depending on who the petitioner is.

Additionally, the bill revises the existing law to ensure that foster parents receive timely and comprehensive information about the child and their family background, including health history. It emphasizes that foster parents should be kept informed of any relevant information necessary for the child's care on an ongoing basis. However, it also stipulates that any confidential information, including termination of parental rights petitions, must be kept confidential by the foster parents unless disclosure is necessary to protect the child's health and welfare. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2026.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 36-1-113(e), 36-1-113, 37-2-415(a)(15), 37-2-415