kinship foster care stipend; increase
Arizona's SB 1602 increases monthly stipends for kinship foster parents caring for children in state custody. The bill raises the stipend to $400 per child monthly for 2026-2027, $500 for 2027-2028, and $600 starting in 2029. This directly affects relatives or individuals with significant relationships who provide foster care for children removed from their homes. The increase applies to the existing stipend program under Arizona law, supplementing other financial benefits like full foster care payments or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The bill amends Section 8-514.03 of Arizona Revised Statutes to implement these specific, time-bound payment amounts.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 3, 2026
Last action Mar 25, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced Version
→
Senate Engrossed Version (03/11/2026)
·
3 edits
·
Mar 11, 2026
MINOR
The bill was reformatted from an introduced draft to a Senate engrossed version, updating the official title and session details. The substantive policy content regarding kinship foster care requirements, eligibility, and the monthly stipend schedule remains unchanged, though a minor typo in the text regarding future applications was corrected.
TECHNICAL
The document structure was updated to reflect the official Senate Engrossed Version, including changes to the reference title, bill number, and legislative session headers.
A minor grammatical error was corrected in Section F, changing 'making application APPLYING FOR' to 'making application applying for' to improve readability.
The effective date for the third tier of the monthly stipend was adjusted from 'December 31, 2029' to 'December 31, 2028' in the final version.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 11, 2026
How they voted
26–0
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 30
Mar 11, 2026
D
Democratic13
92% Yea
R
Republican17
82% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
11
Key actions
5
Committee
1
Amendments
3
Mar 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
DP
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
PASSED
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
DPA
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
DPA
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
DPA
upper
1 primary · 13 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Lela Alston
DDemocratic
Co
Catherine Miranda
DDemocratic
Co
Eva Diaz
DDemocratic
Co
Flavio Bravo
DDemocratic
Co
Hildy Angius
RRepublican
Co
Janae Shamp
RRepublican
Co
Janeen Connolly
DDemocratic
Co
Kiana Sears
DDemocratic
Co
Lauren Kuby
DDemocratic
Co
Mariana Sandoval
DDemocratic
Co
Mitzi Epstein
DDemocratic
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