Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, presented a bill to a Missouri House committee Tuesday that aims to give state employees who are foster parents the same leave privileges as those who are adoptive parents.
"Under state law, we currently have a system of shared leave which encourages adoptions, and I think it's appropriate to extend that to foster care placements," Barnes said to the House's Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities committee.
A provision of the bill states that the leave-sharing program permits "employees to donate annual leave, overtime, or compensatory time to an employee who is arranging for a foster or adoptive child's placement or caring for the child after placement, which has caused or is likely to cause such an employee to take leave without pay or to terminate employment."
It states the shared time can be transferred between employees in different departments, agencies or political subdivisions of the state, with the agreement of supervisors.
Rep. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, asked Barnes what would happen when a foster parent is gone so much that the position is vacated.
Barnes said the issue hasn't been a concern with adoptive parents.
"The Office of Administration doesn't have a problem with this bill and have no concern that it (leave) will be abused," he said.
Samuel Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri, said the bill allows families to treat a foster child the same as biological children.
He also said the types of state employees who would make that effort to adopt a child or to foster a child are exactly the type of people the state should go out of its way to pay back.
"I applaud parents who have done this," he said.
No vote was taken on the bill Tuesday.