Stable settings shouldn't be held to stricter codes, Rep. Eissler says

March 24, 2008, 10:43PM
By JANET ELLIOTT
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — A state lawmaker Monday criticized fire safety inspectors for enforcing stricter standards for families who take in abused or neglected children than are required for private homes.

Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, said he is concerned that children have been removed from stable foster homes because their families did not have manual alarms connected to the local fire department or sprinkler systems required to pass a fire inspection. The Houston Chronicle on Monday reported about two Montgomery County families who made the difficult decision to downsize the number of foster children in lieu of retrofitting their homes with expensive alarms or sprinklers.

"Come on, guys. We want our kids to be safe, but don't make a tougher standard than for a regular home," Eissler said. "A foster home should be a home, not a public dormitory."

Legislative review

Eissler said that children who are in foster care already have gone through the trauma of being removed from their parents, and "now we're penalizing them twice" by taking them out of a good foster home on "a technicality."

The Legislature may need to review the state's patchwork of state and local fire codes so that all foster homes are treated equally, Eissler said.

Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams disagreed with Eissler that the fire safety systems are unnecessary. He said small children and the elderly are three to four times as likely to die in a home fire than adults, mostly because of their inability to recognize the danger and quickly escape.

"I will not apologize for making these children's world a little safer," Williams said. "Do we really want to wait until five or 10 children die in a foster group home fire to take action?"

Williams said he would support funding to help foster families install fire suppression systems.

"I understand the financial issue," he said. "We ought to have state assistance. I'm willing to go up (to Austin) and fight for that."

New state requirements

Williams said his office found a Montgomery County couple caring for 12 foster children in two connected mobile homes about 10 miles from the nearest fire station. He said the interconnected alarm system the family was required to install will notify the parents if a fire breaks out in the part of the home where the children sleep.

The fire inspection issue arose this year after state child welfare officials said that local foster agencies could no longer use private certified inspectors. Around the same time, the Texas insurance commissioner, who oversees the state fire code, said that foster homes fall under the definition of residential board and care occupancy if the home houses more than three foster children.

Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, said he would support a moratorium on the safety requirements for larger sibling groups because of the benefits of keeping them together in a foster home. He said the state should consider reimbursing caregivers who install fire safety systems.

janet.elliott@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5645420.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor