Marisa McClellan, Esq., (717) 221-7961, mmcclellan@tuckerlaw.com

How do agencies for foster parents and potential kinship caregivers ensure that foster parents and potential kinship caregivers’ rights are protected in the wake of the recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision?

If you are a foster and adoption agency, a foster parent, or a potential kinship caregiver in Pennsylvania, you may be running into new challenges to ensure participation in Court proceedings. In the summer of 2025, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a decision that changed the rights of foster parents and other resources for children involved in the Dependency system. These legal changes have subsequently and substantially impacted the practices and procedures that were in place to ensure that rights are acknowledged and adhered to by the participants in the child welfare system.

Unfortunately, there has been some confusion with the Supreme Court decision, and some Foster Parents’ rights are not being honored by some individuals. Sometimes, foster parents and other family members, like potential kinship resources, are being excluded from court proceedings, and the court may not even know that foster parents and potential kinship caregivers are present and want to participate in the court proceedings.

If you have attempted to be a resource for a child in foster care or are currently a resource for a child in foster care, you may need legal representation to ensure your rights are not overlooked.

If you have questions about the rights as foster parents, contact Marisa K. McClellan with Tucker Arensberg at (717) 221-7961 or at mmcclellan@tuckerlaw.com. Marisa has over twenty years of experience with foster care, adoption, and family law matters.