More foster parent drama

[KaiserB]

"(a) Firearms, hunting knives, bows and arrows, or other weapons kept on the premises of a child-care home must remain in a locked cabinet inaccessible to children during all hours of operation, with the exception of law enforcement officials who are trained and certified to carry a firearm and ammunition.

Does this mean that a law enforcement officer does not need to lock up his weapons at all? It can certainly be interpreted that way. Looks like technically a law enforcement officer could leave his weapon out anywhere in the house and be compliant to the rule. Yes I know that is not the intent but one could certainly make the argument with the way it is written.

There are so many standards with Foster care, and unfortunately they are left to interpretation. Just expect, if asked, the case worker to pick the most conservative approach.

You could go with DADT but you have to determine the level of risk you have with CPS not understanding your intentions. When we got out of Foster Care about 5 years ago the CPS was very much in a "pull the kids and move them" mode for any infractions, including the goofy such as not having an un-climable fence in your back yard if your neighbor had a pool.

[MeMelYup]

Looks like the next legislative session needs to add
(a) Firearms, hunting knives, bows and arrows, or other weapons kept on the premises of a child-care home must remain in a locked cabinet inaccessible to children during all hours of operation, with the exception of law enforcement officials and Concealed Handgun Licensed persons (CHL) who are trained and certified to carry a firearm and ammunition.

Also think they should change the word weapons to arms or tools. A gun is not a weapon until one uses it as such. Its like a judge said about a beware of dog sign on a fence, "you would not have put a BEWARE OF DOG sign up unless you knew the dog was dangerous."

[RHenriksen]

Looks like the next legislative session needs to add
(a) Firearms, hunting knives, bows and arrows, or other weapons kept on the premises of a child-care home must remain in a locked cabinet inaccessible to children during all hours of operation, with the exception of law enforcement officials and Concealed Handgun Licensed persons (CHL) who are trained and certified to carry a firearm and ammunition.

Seems like a reasonable approach to me. There might need to be additional details about whether only Texas resident CHLs would qualify, or non-res out of state CHLs would also be acceptable, etc.

[BrianSW99]

This is, in fact, the rule for being a foster parent. Foster parents can take it or leave it, I suppose, since fostering is voluntary.

"(a) Firearms, hunting knives, bows and arrows, or other weapons kept on the premises of a child-care home must remain in a locked cabinet inaccessible to children during all hours of operation, with the exception of law enforcement officials who are trained and certified to carry a firearm and ammunition.

"(b) You must keep ammunition in a separate locked cabinet and inaccessible to children during all hours of operation. "

Reference:
TITLE 40 PART 19 CHAPTER 747 SUBCHAPTER S Division 1 RULE §747.3505
http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/rea ... 47&rl=3505" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FYI: foster parents have to follow the same rules as licensed in-home daycare:

Actually, this is not correct. Foster homes must be licensed, but not under the same standards as in-home daycare. The minimum standards for foster care licensing are in Chapter 749, not 747. The firearms section for foster homes is much different than in-home daycare:

§749.2961. Are weapons, firearms, explosive materials, and projectiles permitted in a foster home?

(a) Generally, weapons, firearms, explosive materials, and projectiles (such as darts or arrows), are permitted, however, there are some specific restrictions:
(1) If you allow weapons, firearms, explosive materials, projectiles, or toys that explode or shoot, you must develop and enforce a policy identifying specific precautions to ensure children do not have unsupervised access to them, including:

(A) Locked storage for the weapons and the ammunition;
(B) Locked storage must be made of strong, unbreakable material;
(C) If the locked storage has a glass or another breakable front or enclosure, guns must be secured with a locked cable or chain placed through the trigger guards; and
(D) Separate locked storage for the weapons and the ammunition. Ammunition may be stored with weapons in the same location, such as a gun cabinet, provided that access to both ammunition and weapons cannot be obtained by using the same key and/or combination;

(2) You must determine that it is appropriate for a specific child to use the weapons, firearms, explosive materials, projectiles, or toys that explode or shoot; and
(3) No child may use a weapon, firearm, explosive material, projectile, or toy that explodes or shoots, unless the child is directly supervised by a qualified adult.

(b) Your policies must require foster parents/caregivers to notify you if there is a change in the type of or an addition to weapons, firearms, explosive materials, or projectiles that are on the property where the foster home is located.
(c) Firearms which are inoperable and solely ornamental are exempt from the storage requirements in this rule.

Brian