Downloadable PDF Version: Open Letter: On HB584 – Against the Abrogation of the Rights of Children in Foster Care
Saturday, April 18, 2026
The Honorable Delisha Boyd
Louisiana House of Representatives
3401 General De Gaulle Drive Suite 5076
New Orleans, LA 70114
The Honorable Regina Barrow
President Pro Tempore
Louisiana Senate
4811 Harding Blvd
Baton Rouge, LA 70811
Members of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
Louisiana Senate
P.O. Box 94183
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804
RE: House Bill 584 – Open Letter Against the Abrogation of the Rights of Children in Foster Care
Dear Representative Boyd, Senator Barrow, and Members of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee,
On March 24, 2026, Representative Delisha Boyd presented House Bill 584 (HB 584) to the House Health and Welfare Committee. As authored and presented by Representative Boyd, HB 584 held a single purpose – to ensure that children in foster care who are 14 or older receive suitcases for their belongings instead of trash bags.
After the House Health and Welfare Committee passed HB 584 favorably, Representative Raymond Crews asked Representative Boyd about reconsidering the bill’s language to distinguish between a foster child’s “right to luggage” versus receiving luggage as a “privilege.” Representatives Boyd and Crews agreed to discuss the terminology before HB 584 was presented to the full House.
Between the House Health and Welfare Committee’s favorable passage of HB 584 on March 24 and March 30, 2026, when the House of Representatives passed the considerably amended HB 584, HB 584 was stretched far beyond its original scope and now seeks to convert all federal and state rights of Louisiana children in foster care into mere privileges. As passed, HB 584 now replaces the words “right” and “rights” in Louisiana’s Foster Youth Bill of Rights with “privilege” and “privileges.”
In explaining his Amendment 2819, Representative Crews stated,
“Hi, Members. I admire what Representatives Boyd and Taylor are doing on this. I just wanted to make sure we understand that these are not necessarily rights. These are things provided by other people so I just changed that word “right” to “privilege” in here. I agree with the intent of the author. I just want to make sure everybody realizes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are really the only rights we have, so thanks.”
Representative Crews did not mention the most critical action of Amendment 2819. He said nothing about Amendment 2819 changing the entire Louisiana Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights, (LA Rev Stat § 46:286.16 (2025)), replacing all rights with mere privileges and changing the instrument’s title from Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights to Privileges of Foster Youth.
Children in foster care certainly do have additional federally granted rights beyond “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, without question or objection, the House of Representatives adopted Representative Crews’ Amendment 2819.
Then, 100 to 0, Louisiana’s House of Representatives passed HB 584 as amended, granting the privilege of a suitcase and simultaneously abrogating both the federally granted rights of children in foster care and the small collection of additional rights that Louisiana’s Legislature granted to children in foster care in 2021. After passage, 43 Representatives signed on as co-authors of HB 584. I believe most are unaware of the unreported actions of HB 584 as amended by Amendment 2819.
In a state that struggles to care well for children in foster care, Louisiana’s Legislature is now halfway to extinguishing the rights of these children and replacing them with simple privileges. We do not believe this is the Legislature’s desire.
If the Senate Health and Welfare Committee approves HB 584 in its current posture and it becomes law, Louisiana’s current “Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights” (LA Rev Stat § 46:286.16 (2025)) will become “Privileges of Foster Youth.”
Louisiana’s abrogation of the federal and state rights of children in foster care will represent an entirely new philosophy in public child welfare. It will place Louisiana at odds with the Federal government and make our state an oddity among all states regarding the rights of children in foster care.
The impact of this new approach will be harmful. Access to healthcare is a federal right of children in foster care. However, under HB 584, receiving physical and mental healthcare will become only a privilege under Louisiana law.
To make this clear, consider the federal right to healthcare as it is currently enumerated in the Louisiana Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights: “(5) The right to have the youth’s medical and mental health needs met on a regular and timely basis.”
HB 584 explicitly changes this text to: “(5) The privilege to have the youth’s medical and mental health needs met on a regular and timely basis.”
In the same way, HB 584 converts all “rights” into “privileges.” Louisiana’s children in foster care will no longer have their federal rights to education, safe and appropriate homes, or safety and protection from abuse. They will lose their rights to privacy, nondiscrimination, family connections, and participation in their own plan of care. Under HB 584, all the currently enumerated “rights” will become “privileges.”
So, this presents a real conundrum. While the Louisiana Legislature does have the right to revoke the 2021 Louisiana-granted rights of children in foster care, the Legislature has neither right nor privilege to abrogate the federal rights of children in foster care.
(Well, perhaps the Legislature could do that, but the consequences for Louisiana would likely be extreme, including loss of federal child welfare revenue and, upon actual abrogation and resulting complaint, possible intervention by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.)
Children in foster care do have federally granted and protected rights. Federal rights are not privileges to be earned or awarded by state legislatures, public child welfare agencies, foster caregivers, given or not by other people, or any other entity. The federal rights of children in foster care are absolute rights.
States know this. Among all states, no other has enumerated the “Privileges of Foster Youth.” Other states ensure that children in foster care are informed of their rights. In fact, children in foster care have a federal right to be informed of their rights.
Members of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, we encourage you to understand that Louisiana has (and should maintain) a Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights for good reasons. We hold that the Louisiana Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights should be visible in foster homes, group homes, and treatment facilities where children in foster care reside or receive care.
Knowing their rights, seeing them written, is empowering for children in foster care who have so little power. We all know this to be true: they have no voice, they have no vote, they do not donate, and they have been through Hades. Please, do not attempt to take their rights.
According to the National Council of State Legislatures, “Foster Children Bill of Rights and Foster Parent Bill of Rights are designed to inform foster children and foster parents of their rights within the child welfare system.” No other state has replaced a Bill of Rights for children in foster care with a Bill of Privileges.
Three Requests Related to HB 584
1. First, yes, honor the original intent and language of Representative Boyd’s HB 584 and ensure that all children in foster care receive luggage for their belongings. It is soul-sapping for a child to dump their belongings from a gray or black 13-gallon trash bag when they enter a new foster home or facility. Maintain DCFS’s Amendment 2476 which broadens the original bills grant of luggage to 14-18 years olds to include all children in foster care, 0 to 18.
2. Please correct HB 584 to protect the title and text of Louisiana’s Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights to ensure Louisiana’s children in foster care retain their rights. The Louisiana Legislature passed Senator Regina Barrow’s Senate Bill 151 in 2021 to create the Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights. Why abrogate it so soon?
3. Finally, if the Legislature is indeed concerned that Louisiana’s children in foster care have too many state-granted privileges and wishes to reconsider the Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights, we urge the Legislature to work hand in hand with the LEAF Board, the organization that assisted in drafting Louisiana’s exemplary Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights language. SB 151 of 2021 was the result of a two-year effort by Senator Regina Barrow, the Louisiana Elite Advocacy Force (LEAF) board, and DCFS.
Senators, thank you for your attention to this critical information regarding HB 584. We wish you wisdom in your deliberations regarding Louisiana’s continued support of the federally granted rights for children in foster care.
Sincerely,
Rick Wheat
Director, Center for Child Well-being
Chief Advocacy Officer, Methodist Children’s Home
CC: The Honorable Jeff Landry, Governor, State of Louisiana
The Honorable Rebecca Harris, Secretary, Department of Children and Family Services
The Honorable Cameron Henry, President, Louisiana Senate
The Honorable Phillip DeVillier, Speaker of the House, Louisiana House of Representatives
Samantha LaCour, President, The LEAF Board
Louisiana’s Advocates for Child Well-being
