---
type: "Bill"
title: "Family Law and Human Services - Guardianship Assistance Program and State Foster Youth Ombudsman - Establishment (Kanaiyah's Law)"
description: "Family Law and Human Services - Guardianship Assistance Program and State Foster Youth Ombudsman - Establishment (Kanaiyah's Law)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 980"
citation: "Maryland HB 980 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acevero", "Adams", "Addison", "Anderson", "Arentz", "Arikan", "Baker", "Beauchamp", "Boyce", "Buckel", "Cardin", "Chisholm", "Ciliberti", "Coley", "Conaway", "Ebersole", "Edelson", "Embry", "Fair", "Feldmark", "Ghrist", "Griffith", "Hartman", "Hinebaugh", "Hornberger", "Hutchinson", "Ivey", "Jacobs", "Kipke", "Mangione", "McComas", "Metzgar", "Miller", "Mireku-North", "Moreno", "Nkongolo", "Palakovich Carr", "Pasteur", "Patterson", "Phillips", "Pippy", "R. Long", "Reilly", "Roberson", "Rogers", "Rose", "Ruff", "Schmidt", "Simmons", "Simpson", "Stinnett", "Stonko", "T. Morgan", "Taylor", "Tomlinson", "Valentine", "Vogel", "White Holland", "Wilkins", "Wilson", "Wivell", "Woods"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-02-06"
last_action: "2026-04-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1de6cd50-b324-4f1d-aff5-38f21ca89cb3"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0980?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "8fce00115b89fc46e3153c656bdc1dec3a16d72ac6560f5fcffdde9764b67a7a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland HB 980 (2026) — Family Law and Human Services - Guardianship Assistance Program and State Foster Youth Ombudsman - Establishment (Kanaiyah's Law)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Family Law and Human Services - Guardianship Assistance Program and State Foster Youth Ombudsman - Establishment (Kanaiyah's Law)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_158_hb0980t.pdf)
2. **First - Family Law and State Government - Child Protection and the Office of the Child Welfare Ombudsman (Kanaiyah's Law)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0980f.pdf)
3. **Third - Family Law and Human Services - Guardianship Assistance Program and State Foster Youth Ombudsman - Establishment (Kanaiyah's Law)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0980t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading — **127–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Acevero — primary (person)
- Adams — primary (person)
- Addison — primary (person)
- Anderson — primary (person)
- Arentz — primary (person)
- Arikan — primary (person)
- Baker — primary (person)
- Beauchamp — primary (person)
- Boyce — primary (person)
- Buckel — primary (person)
- Cardin — primary (person)
- Chisholm — primary (person)
- Ciliberti — primary (person)
- Coley — primary (person)
- Conaway — primary (person)
- Ebersole — primary (person)
- Edelson — primary (person)
- Embry — primary (person)
- Fair — primary (person)
- Feldmark — primary (person)
- Ghrist — primary (person)
- Griffith — primary (person)
- Hartman — primary (person)
- Hinebaugh — primary (person)
- Hornberger — primary (person)
- Hutchinson — primary (person)
- Ivey — primary (person)
- Jacobs — primary (person)
- Kipke — primary (person)
- Mangione — primary (person)
- McComas — primary (person)
- Metzgar — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)
- Mireku-North — primary (person)
- Moreno — primary (person)
- Nkongolo — primary (person)
- Palakovich Carr — primary (person)
- Pasteur — primary (person)
- Patterson — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Pippy — primary (person)
- R. Long — primary (person)
- Reilly — primary (person)
- Roberson — primary (person)
- Rogers — primary (person)
- Rose — primary (person)
- Ruff — primary (person)
- Schmidt — primary (person)
- Simmons — primary (person)
- Simpson — primary (person)
- Stinnett — primary (person)
- Stonko — primary (person)
- T. Morgan — primary (person)
- Taylor — primary (person)
- Tomlinson — primary (person)
- Valentine — primary (person)
- Vogel — primary (person)
- White Holland — primary (person)
- Wilkins — primary (person)
- Wilson — primary (person)
- Wivell — primary (person)
- Woods — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-02-06** First Reading Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-09** Hearing 2/26 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-20** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-20** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-20** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2026-03-21** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-23** Referred Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-25** Hearing 4/02 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-04-09** Favorable Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-09** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-09** Second Reading Passed
- **2026-04-13** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-13** Returned Passed
- **2026-04-28** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 158 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1de6cd50-b324-4f1d-aff5-38f21ca89cb3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).