---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - PRESERVATION OF FAMILIES WITH DISABLED PARENT ACT (Precludes a parent's disability from serving as the sole basis for the state to institute an investigation of the disabled parent's family.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - PRESERVATION OF FAMILIES WITH DISABLED PARENT ACT (Precludes a parent's disability from serving as the sole basis for the state to institute an investigation of the disabled parent's family.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5394"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5394 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Children and Families", "Developmentally Disabled", "Domestic Relations", "Equal Rights/Discrimination", "Handicapped", "State Affairs"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bennett", "Cassar", "Cortvriend", "Handy", "Henries", "Kislak", "McGaw", "Ruggiero", "Shekarchi"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-05"
last_action: "2021-05-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7d823a8e-8dda-4c5e-a1db-527c6734a6ec"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "ced02d87257dc933fc660be7665351fb949dd9a695ac1f34b5131c2cea34802c"
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-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5394 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - PRESERVATION OF FAMILIES WITH DISABLED PARENT ACT (Precludes a parent's disability from serving as the sole basis for the state to institute an investigation of the disabled parent's family.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5394** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5394.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **72–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bennett — primary (person)
- Cassar — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Handy — primary (person)
- Henries — primary (person)
- Kislak — primary (person)
- McGaw — primary (person)
- Ruggiero — primary (person)
- Shekarchi — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-05** 02/05/2021 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-18** 02/18/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/23/2021)
- **2021-02-23** 02/23/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-04-09** 04/09/2021 Scheduled for consideration (04/13/2021)
- **2021-04-13** 04/13/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-13** 04/13/2021 Placed on House Calendar (04/15/2021)
- **2021-04-15** 04/15/2021 House read and passed `passage`
- **2021-04-30** 04/30/2021 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-30** 04/30/2021 Scheduled for consideration (05/06/2021)
- **2021-05-06** 05/06/2021 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-14** 05/14/2021 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (05/18/2021)
- **2021-05-18** 05/18/2021 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-05-19** 05/19/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-26** 05/26/2021 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7d823a8e-8dda-4c5e-a1db-527c6734a6ec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).