חוק אומנה לילדים, התשע"ו-2016Law Foster Care for Children, 2016 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law establishes the rights of children placed in foster care and the principles for realizing these rights, foremost among them preserving the best interests of the child. It also establishes the ways to ensure these rights, inter alia, by establishing the need to obtain a foster care license and the conditions for obtaining it, and mechanisms for supervising foster families and the operating bodies that run the foster care system. The Law also establishes provisions regarding parents' rights, as well as provisions regarding placement in foster care and the selection of the foster family. The Law also regulates the status of the foster caregiver, their powers and duties, and the situations of kinship foster care, with certain adaptations. The Law regulates the following areas: 1. The matter of payments to foster parents and the management of the property of a child in foster care with the assistance of a guardian for property. 2. A tax exemption is established for payments to foster families that constitute reimbursement of expenses. 3. The entitlement of a disabled child in foster care to benefits they would have received had they been eligible for a disabled child allowance – an allowance that is denied due to the stay in foster care – is established. 4. The foster caregiver is given the possibility to act to realize the rights of the child in foster care, in all matters concerning the child's daily life, while maintaining a balance of the biological parent's rights and status in relation to these proceedings. As part of this balance, the foster caregiver's participation in other proceedings concerning the child in foster care was reduced to a right to be heard only. 5. A complaints mechanism is established for children in foster care and other out-of-home placement frameworks, and the qualifications required of the complaints officer are established, along with provisions regarding their powers, including regarding the prevention of harm to children, as well as provisions ensuring the independence of their work. The complaints mechanism is intended for children and will be made accessible to them. It should be noted that complaints from parents and foster families will be handled within the framework of supervision. 6. The method for granting a foster care license in the case of a child actually residing in the home of a person who is not their parent is regulated, with reference to cases in which, due to the circumstances and duration of the stay, there is no need for intervention through foster care placement. 7. It is established that a foster care counselor will be required to consider applying for a court decision regarding necessary medical treatment requiring the consent of a biological parent, insofar as the biological parent's consent is delayed in a manner contrary to the best interests of the child. 8. Penal provisions are established on defined matters, such as obstructing a child from filing a complaint, or handing over a foster child to another person while disclaiming the foster caregiver's duties toward them. 9. Transitional provisions are established regarding existing foster families – whether recognized families or families providing kinship foster care that is currently unregulated. 10. Regarding children orphaned of both parents who died in a hostile attack, certain provisions are established that will apply to them, with provisions that could harm beneficial rights not being applied.

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Sponsors

Karine Elharrar, Orly Levi-Abekasis, Shelly Yachimovich, Aliza Lavie, Michal Rozin, Mordhay Yogev, Ilan Gilon, Micky Rosenthal, Ofer Shelah, Dov Khenin