Maryland lawmakers on Monday voted to prohibit the use of hotels and other unlicensed settings for children under state care, part of a series of foster care reforms.

The Maryland House and Senate both passed the legislation unanimously following the high-profile death of 16-year-old Kanaiyah Ward. She died by suicide in a Baltimore hotel room where she was living last September at a time when she was supposed to be under round-the-clock care.

The three bills, including one named for Ward, now head to Gov. Wes Moore, who is expected to sign them into law.

Calls for reform came almost immediately after Ward’s death made headlines. The newly passed legislation marks a significant step toward reforming a long-troubled child welfare system.

For years, the Maryland Department of Human Services has struggled to manage the state’s foster care program, which it oversees. State audits repeatedly found serious shortcomings, most notably that some children were housed in hotels and hospitals, often for months.

The agency announced in October it would no longer house foster children in unlicensed settings, but four days later a child spent the night in a Baltimore City Department of Social Services office.

In addition to hotels, one of the bills defines unlicensed settings as office buildings, short-term rentals, homeless shelters and inpatient medical settings, including emergency departments, after children are medically cleared for discharge.

However, that piece of legislation carves out an exception for hospital overstays if the state can show it is trying to find a suitable placement.

There is a shortage of foster care beds in Maryland, as in other states, and lawmakers said they will work next year to expand the state’s capacity.

Adam Rosenberg, the executive director of LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope, said any effort to reduce hospital overstays is welcome and called the measure “a good first step” toward tackling the problem.

Prohibiting the use of emergency department placements as a baseline, even if there are exceptions, demonstrates that kids are Maryland’s priority, Rosenberg said. He praised the bill that enhances reporting requirements when families seek out foster care voluntarily for a child with significant behavioral health needs.

“We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said. “I expect we will all look back on the work this session as something to be proud of.”

The legislative package also calls for the reestablishment of a foster youth ombudsman in the Maryland Department of Human Services. The ombudsman would have limited powers to investigate complaints about the foster care system and to mediate disputes, among other duties.

The previous ombudsman left the Department of Human Services in 2023, records show. It’s unclear why the post has been vacant since.

Judith Schagrin, a former assistant director of the Baltimore County Department of Social Services, questioned the effectiveness of an ombudsman situated within the agency they’re supposed to oversee and noted the Department of Human Services is already supposed to have a foster youth ombudsman.

“An ombudsman cannot help establish credibility if it’s within the department it’s supposed to oversee,” she said.

An earlier version of the ombudsman bill, known as Kanaiyah’s Law, would have awarded significant investigative and decision-making authority, including subpoena power, to the ombudsman. The bill would have also put the officer under the purview of the attorney general.

That would have marked a departure from the norm in Maryland, where ombuds are part of the agencies they oversee and tend to have a less authoritative role than positions like inspectors general.

Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican representing Cecil and Harford counties, is the primary sponsor of Kanaiyah’s Law and signed off on amendments earlier in the legislative session.

In a committee hearing earlier this month, Griffith said the final package of legislation was a collaborative effort that spanned the “political spectrum.”

Griffith grew up in the foster care system, which he said was difficult. He joined the U.S. Marines at 17 to escape it.

“This isn’t about me. This is about Kanaiyah and these other kids that are dealing with this right now,” he said. “And the past is the past. We can change the future right now.”