It’s tough for all concerned when the state is forced to step in and remove children from a parent’s home. Kids may find themselves separated from both immediate family and friends, and from biological grandparents, as well.

That’s too often the case when parents lose custody of their children and the state takes over. While Oregon law requires that a whole host of institutions and individuals be kept informed of upcoming hearings and other proceedings, the list does not always include grandparents whose grandchildren have become wards of the state.

At the same time, biological grandparents too often find themselves physically cut off from their state-ward grandchildren, as well. In both cases, current law no longer recognizes the parent of a person whose parental rights have been terminated as the legal grandparent of that person’s children.

That’s about to change. State House Bill 3014, which includes among its sponsors both Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, and Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, would require the state to keep biological grandparents in the information loop where their grandchildren are concerned.

It has been approved by both houses of the Legislature and awaits the signature of Gov. Kate Brown.

The bill may sound like a housekeeping measure — it simply changes the definition of what a grandparent is where a grandchild who is a ward of the court is concerned — but it is an important one, just the same.

Children who have been taken from biological parents need all the stability they can get, and grandparents can provide that. In fact, grandparents can provide the only continuing link to the only world a child has ever known. They can, that is, if the state keeps them fully informed about legal actions involving grandchildren and allows them continued involvement in grandchildren’s lives.

Moreover, continuing contact between grandparent and grandchild can improve the mental health of both: Studies show both are less likely to suffer from depression when they can maintain contact with one another.

Brown should sign House Bill 3014. Oregon’s kids in crisis need all the support they can get.