ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) — A bill aiming to increase foster care protections inched forward Wednesday in Annapolis, though the language has changed significantly.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved House Bill 980, known as Kanaiyah’s Law. Led by Del. Mike Griffith, R-Cecil and Harford Counties, the legislation is named after 16-year-old Kanaiyah Ward who was in foster care and died by suicide while placed in a Baltimore City hotel.
The legislation ties mandatory criminal background checks for adults living in guardianship homes to the state’s guardianship assistance program, meaning if people want to continue receiving assistance from the state, all adults in the home must complete the background check.
Del. Sandy Bartlett Chair of House Judiciary Committee. (WBFF)
Griffith’s bill, which has dozens of co-sponsors spanning the political spectrum, also creates a foster youth ombudsman. The ombudsman must be an attorney and would be responsible for providing expertise in child welfare, custody and guardianship issues, appeals and due process issues, as well as investigate complaints youth in out-of-home placements, and advocate for out-of-home care foster care children.
Originally, the legislation banned unlicensed settings for foster care children, including hotels. However, that language was removed from Griffith’s bill and will be included in other legislation sponsored by Speaker Joseline Pena-Melnyk that’s expected to move out of committee later this week.
The Department of Human Services currently has a policy prohibiting placements in unlicensed settings, but Griffith previously said he believed it was important to codify the plan to ensure kids aren’t put in hotels, homeless shelters, and local social services offices.
“Something that can be done with a pen can be undone with a pen, a policy that’s done by a bureaucrat can be undone by a bureaucrat,” Griffith told the House Judiciary Committee during a February bill hearing. “There’s no more interpretation. There’s no more, ‘oh, well just this one kid.’ Nope. Never again.”
During the bill hearing on Feb. 26, Kanaiyah’s mother, Brooke, told lawmakers she hoped the bill would become a reality.
“I hope that you don’t think we are here to just memorialize the loss,” Ward told the House Judiciary Committee. “We are hoping that the young men and women who need the help get it, and that the systems that they rely upon to protect and serve them actually work.”
I hope we can put politics aside and focus on something that we all have in common: the love of our children, Brooke Ward told lawmakers.
Ward’s death was the catalyst for the systemic changes, though days prior to the teen’s death, a scathing audit was published about the Social Services Administration revealing the agency lacked background check protocols and other issues.
During an interview on FOX45 News In Depth with Mikenzie Frost in February, Stephen Liggett-Creel, senior advisor to the DHS secretary, talked about the policy changes that the agency has made.
Liggett-Creel was asked why it took the death of a child in the state’s care to end hotel placements. When the Moore Administration took over in 2023, “one of the first things that we did is recognize that the use of hotels was something we wanted to end,” he said. The agency evaluated the problem, but Liggett-Creel said they “didn’t want to make decisions that ultimately could have other consequences.”
“We came in in 2023 and started to look at this issue between 23 and ending this practice of hotel stays in 25 for something that had been happening for 10 years,” he said when pressed on the timeline of changes.
Liggett-Creel wouldn’t say whether anyone within DHS was disciplined or fired because of Ward’s death.
“That’s a personnel issue that I wouldn’t be able to speak to,” he said.
The legislation will now head to the House of Delegates for consideration; it’s expected to move forward as part of legislative package with other bills.
Follow Political Reporter Mikenzie Frost on X and Facebook. Send tips to mbfrost@sbgtv.com.
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