---
type: "Bill"
title: "Social services; foster parents bill of rights; revise provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 49 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to programs and protection for children, so as to revise provisions relating to the foster parents bill of rights; to provide for definitions; to provide that such rights include relative caregivers and fictive kin; to provide for the development of administrative procedures; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2025_26"
identifier: "HB 256"
citation: "Georgia HB 256 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COURTS", "SOCIAL SERVICES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chuck Efstration", "Clint Crowe", "Joseph Gullett", "Marcus Wiedower", "Matt Hatchett", "Rob Clifton"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 15
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-02-04"
last_action: "2026-05-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c25f2bf5-246b-4b3f-8185-f3b1c291166e"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "1ff50284cb41cabfbd7fe44099dfe9301e33c67202bd6a2a747459c6c27fcc44"
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-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 256 (2025_26) — Social services; foster parents bill of rights; revise provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 49 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to programs and protection for children, so as to revise provisions relating to the foster parents bill of rights; to provide for definitions; to provide that such rights include relative caregivers and fictive kin; to provide for the development of administrative procedures; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

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

1. **HB 256/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/249056.pdf)
2. **LC 48 1421/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/231224.pdf)
3. **LC 48 1711S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/242751.pdf)
4. **LC 48 1711S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/242118.pdf)
5. **Sen Ctee Sub LC 48 1843S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/247308.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #836 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **171–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #899 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **47–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #516 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **164–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chuck Efstration — primary (person)
- Clint Crowe — primary (person)
- Joseph Gullett — primary (person)
- Marcus Wiedower — primary (person)
- Matt Hatchett — primary (person)
- Rob Clifton — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-04** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2025-02-05** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2025-02-06** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2026-02-10** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-17** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2026-02-17** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-02-18** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-31** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2026-03-31** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-04-02** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2026-04-10** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-11** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-11** Act 475 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c25f2bf5-246b-4b3f-8185-f3b1c291166e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).