Governor Laura Kelly has signed House Bill 2536, establishing the support, opportunity, unity, and legal family legal permanency option, a fourth pathway for children 16 years or older in foster care to obtain legal permanency via a custodian of their choice. The program known as souSOUL, will give children the ability to choose someone they trust to raise them as they enter adulthood, meaning that young people who are aging out of foster care will be empowered to select the circle of caring adults who will help them as they move into adulthood.
Kansas Department of Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard says the bill is a culmination of more than two years of collaborative efforts that placed those with lived experiences at the center of the discussion, in their efforts to ensure that youth coming after them had options beyond permanent custodian or another planned permanent living arrangement.
