This bill expands foster care options by creating a new category called "cottage family homes"—small, home-based residential settings operated by licensed child care agencies that can receive federal foster care maintenance payments just like traditional foster families. The legislation aims to address the shortage of foster homes while keeping sibling groups together and ensuring children maintain connections with their own families. Cottage family homes must meet specific standards, including providing trauma-informed care, prohibiting certain restraint practices, maintaining single-family style residences with no more than two children per bedroom, and employing live-in caregivers using the "reasonable and prudent parent standard." The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment, though states are given up to six months to update their plans if they need new legislation to comply. The measure gives states flexibility to determine how cottage family homes fit within their foster care systems while maintaining federal oversight of child safety and well-being.
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