For years, it’s been clear to Oregon policymakers that keeping siblings placed in foster care connected often improves their mental and emotional well-being.
Just ask Riley Thomas, who said after being placed in foster care, she lost contact with her biological brother.
“I now have no contact with my oldest biological sibling due to the fact of 11 years of no contact,” Thomas, fighting back tears, told state lawmakers recently. “I had to miss his wedding. His first home, everything … Those moments that are irreplaceable.”
This week, state lawmakers in Oregon strengthened what’s known as the Foster Children’s Bill of Rights, a framework of rights first passed by the Legislature in 2013. The update to the law, which the House gave final approval to this week, will now make it clear that kids placed in foster care have the right to communicate with their siblings.
“Someone doesn’t get to say, it’s not emotionally appropriate for you or it’s not convenient,” said Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, who championed Senate Bill 1533.
Sen. Gelser Blouin (D-Corvalis) at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore. on Feb. 2, 2026.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
The Oregon Department of Human Services, which is one of the largest agencies in state government, oversees the state’s child welfare system. Its current budget includes $7.5 billion in general fund dollars and more than 11,300 positions. It’s charged with caring for a wide range of vulnerable populations in the state, along with the approximate 4,580 kids placed in the state’s child welfare system. As part of a class-action lawsuit against the agency, Kevin Ryan, “a neutral expert,” is currently overseeing the system with the goal of improving the foster care system.
Kids placed in foster care are already supposed to be able to see their siblings if it’s appropriate. But it’s not clear who determines whether it’s appropriate. And when the siblings are denied access, they aren’t always given a clear reason. This measure would make it explicit. It also makes it clear a court must decide when it’s not appropriate for a child to see a sibling and make it clear in writing.
“It’s a right, just like any right,” Gelser Blouin said.
Jasmin Hunter Kennedy, who was also placed in foster care, put it bluntly: the bill of rights is there to make kids’ “circumstances suck a little less.”
The latest version of the foster care bill of rights also ensures that kids placed in the state’s custody should always be allowed to attend their own court hearings. Gelser Blouin noted she had heard many examples where kids were not able to attend because a caseworker couldn’t take them or there was pushback or it was determined to not be appropriate. Again, this makes this right explicit.
The bill passed overwhelmingly in both the House and Senate, where it now waits for Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature.
During the 2025 session, a similar measure sailed through both chambers with bipartisan support. But Kotek vetoed the bill. She called it overly prescriptive. Shortly after, in a rare legislative move, the state Senate voted to override Kotek’s veto and effectively re-approved it. It died in the House, however, when the clock ran out before lawmakers had a chance to vote again.
The 2026 bill is not exactly the same. Gelser Blouin said she removed a piece of the bill she believes prompted Kotek to veto it. That piece centers on how the state defines a “child in care.” Gelser Blouin wanted to expand that definition to include kids placed in the state’s custody who may be residing in hotels or other temporary placements.
Currently, the definition of “child in care” only protects kids residing in or receiving services from a certified foster home, a developmentally disabled residential home or in a child care agency certified by the state.
Kotek’s team did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
