Governor signs foster home non-vaccination bill

May 03, 2013

Placing foster children in homes where other children are not immunized just got easier. Governor Jan Brewer has signed a bill saying the Department of Economic Security cannot force foster parents to immunize their own children in order to be licensed.

House Republican Sonny Borelli says the measure will help speed up the process of getting foster children into new homes.

"A lot of times, these so-called state organizations or agencies, and I am not disparaging anybody, but they become a breeding ground for juvenile hall, county jail, and then what ... prison," Borelli said.

Brewer points out the bill does not guarantee placement of foster children into homes that do not immunize. She says she has directed DES to create a placement policy restricting very young children to homes where existing children have been vaccinated.