HB 2611 Arizona House · 57th Legislature - Second Regular Session

group homes; safety; training; rights

HB 2611 amends Arizona law to define specific rights for children in foster care or kinship foster care placements. The bill lists 27 concrete rights, including access to education, medical care, privacy, safety, and participation in care planning meetings, with additional transition-focused rights for youth aged 14+ (e.g., career planning, help obtaining IDs). It requires child welfare agencies to provide written information about these rights to children upon placement and to post them in foster homes. The law also establishes complaint channels for children to report rights violations to the department or ombudsman. This directly affects all children in Arizona foster or kinship care placements.

Issues: ✓ Education ✓ Healthcare

Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

House Passage

Jun 2026

Senate Passage

Jun 2026

Vetoed

Jun 2026

Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Vetoed Jun 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

House Engrossed Version (03/04/2026) → Senate Engrossed Version (06/09/2026) · 5 edits · Mar 4, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was transferred from the House to the Senate, resulting in several substantive policy changes. The Senate version broadens the scope of drug testing reporting to include both legislative chambers and adds a new requirement for video surveillance in common areas. It also significantly expands the list of mandatory safety standards for group foster homes by adding ten new items, including specific security measures for doors and windows, and clarifies that audits must be conducted by the department rather than a third-party licensing authority.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to require drug screening results be reported to both the Senate and House health committees, and the definition of required safety protocols for group homes was broadened to include specific physical security measures and department-led audits.

ENFORCEMENT

Drug screening results must now be reported to the chairpersons of both the Senate and House health and human services committees, in addition to existing reporting requirements.

REQUIREMENT

Group foster homes must now implement video surveillance or staff supervision of common areas to monitor resident safety.

Unannounced inspections and independent audits of group homes must now be conducted by the department itself, rather than the group home's external licensing authority.

New mandatory safety standards were added, requiring functional locking mechanisms on all exterior doors and windows and specific entry/exit points that prevent unauthorized access.

The requirement for technology policies was updated to explicitly include providing appropriate security through the use of applications and technology.

Floor votes · House Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 19, 2026

Vetoed

Vetoed by Governor

executive

Jun 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

PASSED

lower

Jun 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

PASSED

upper

Jun 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

DPA

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

DPA

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

PASSED

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors