Last year, a Levittown man, once promoted as a model foster parent, wrapped his two foster children in duct tape to make his wife look bad in a divorce dispute.

This week, in an effort to prevent this sort of abuse, state Sen. Robert M. "Tommy" Tomlinson, R-Bucks, introduced legislation that would tighten the screening process for foster parents.

Tomlinson and 10 co-sponsors, including two from Allegheny County, want county child welfare agencies to consider additional factors, including protection-from-abuse orders, divorce proceedings, financial stability and drug and alcohol-related arrests and hospitalizations.

None of these factors would preclude an applicant from becoming certified, Tomlinson said, but any one could raise a red flag.

The bill contains no new money to help counties pay for the extra inquiries. But, Tomlinson said, "I don't think this is that onerous. These are common sense things that people should be looking at."

Currently, people are barred from becoming foster parents if they're listed on the state's registry of child abusers or if they've been convicted of specific crimes ranging from homicide to indecent exposure. In addition, a foster parent applicant must be physically capable of caring for children, demonstrate emotional stability and pass a review in which factors such as community ties are considered.

Counties may add their own requirements, and after the duct-taping incident, Bucks County began conducting the checks listed in Tomlinson's bill.

The proposal was prompted by the April arrest of Neil and Colleen Broe on charges of child endangerment and false imprisonment. Neil Broe took 30 photographs of their two foster children, aged 1 and 2, with duct tape wrapped around their torsos, arms and legs.

Just a year before, the Bucks County child welfare agency had promoted the couple as model foster parents, unaware of their financial difficulties, which would soon lead to foreclosure on their home and bankruptcy.

Neil Broe pleaded guilty to the charges. Colleen Broe was acquitted. She and her 17-year-old son testified that she put small amounts of duct tape on the children's diapers and sleepers after the toddlers began disrobing at night and playing in excrement. Later, she said, Neil Broe staged the photographs to damage her during the divorce.