Gov. Chris Sununu signed two bills Friday related to individuals and families raising other people’s children.
Senate Bill 172, sponsored by Sen. Sharon Carson, a Londonderry Republican, will allow people who take in children unrelated to them to get Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, money that can be used for groceries and other expenses. To qualify, the court must have appointed an adult guardian of the child.
The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, will make a difference to families like Tina and David Miller of Littleton, who are raising three children whose mother had once dated their son.
The Department of Health and Human Services estimated that under the bill, 300 children living with unrelated adults would receive the benefit, which averages about $7,000 a year.
When Tina Miller learned the bill had passed both chambers in June, she told the Bulletin in an email, “This is tears to my eyes! This is a true blessing to our family! A small burden has been lifted!”
House Bill 408, sponsored by Rep. Jim Kofalt, a Wilton Republican, limits the vaccinations the state can mandate for children in foster families to those it requires for children to attend school or child care programs. Those include immunizations for diphtheria, mumps, pertussis, and rubella, among others.
The bill takes effect immediately.
Under the old rules, the Department of Health and Human Services required children living in foster homes to be up to date on the immunization recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, which includes the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the department had adopted emergency rules to exempt families from getting the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the department’s testimony to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee this year.
Kofalt was concerned that the rule could be changed under the prior law.
The new law also requires the department to allow children living in foster homes to claim a religious exemption from state-required vaccines. The department’s rules included only a medical exemption, according to the department’s testimony.