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45–993 2009

IMPROVING THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

INCOME SECURITY AND FAMILY SUPPORT 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

FEBRUARY 27, 2008 

Serial No. 110–71 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Ways and Means 

( 

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COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York, Chairman 

FORTNEY PETE STARK, California 

SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan 

JIM MCDERMOTT, Washington 

JOHN LEWIS, Georgia 

RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts 

MICHAEL R. MCNULTY, New York 

JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee 

XAVIER BECERRA, California 

LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas 

EARL POMEROY, North Dakota 

STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES, Ohio 

MIKE THOMPSON, California 

JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut 

RAHM EMANUEL, Illinois 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

RON KIND, Wisconsin 

BILL PASCRELL JR., New Jersey 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland 

KENDRICK MEEK, Florida 

ALLYSON Y. SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

ARTUR DAVIS, Alabama 

JIM MCCRERY, Louisiana 

WALLY HERGER, California 

DAVE CAMP, Michigan 

JIM RAMSTAD, Minnesota 

SAM JOHNSON, Texas 

PHIL ENGLISH, Pennsylvania 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

KENNY HULSHOF, Missouri 

RON LEWIS, Kentucky 

KEVIN BRADY, Texas 

THOMAS M. REYNOLDS, New York 

PAUL RYAN, Wisconsin 

ERIC CANTOR, Virginia 

JOHN LINDER, Georgia 

DEVIN NUNES, California 

PAT TIBERI, Ohio 

JON PORTER, Nevada 

JANICE MAYS, Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

BRETT LOPER, Minority Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INCOME SECURITY AND FAMILY SUPPORT 

JIM MCDERMOTT, Washington, Chairman 

FORTNEY PETE STARK, California 

ARTUR DAVIS, Alabama 

JOHN LEWIS, Georgia 

MICHAEL R. MCNULTY, New York 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland 

KENDRICK MEEK, Florida 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

WALLY HERGER, California 

DAVE CAMP, Michigan 

JON PORTER, Nevada 

PHIL ENGLISH, Pennsylvania 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Ways and Means are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Electronic submissions are used to prepare 

both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting between 

various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences 

are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process is further 

refined. 

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C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Advisory of February 20, 2008, announcing the hearing ..................................... 2 

WITNESSES 

Opening Statements: 

The Honorable John Lewis ..................................................................................... 7 

The Honorable Danny Davis, 7th Congressional District, Illinois ...................... 14 

The Honorable Chaka Fattah, 2nd Congressional District, Pennsylvania ......... 9 

The Honorable Michele Bachmann, 6th Congressional District, Minnesota ...... 17 

Gil Kerlikowske, Chief of Police, Seattle, Washington ......................................... 26 

Ken Deibert, Deputy Director, Arizona Department of Economic Security— 

Children, Youth and Family Services, Phoenix, Arizona .................................. 34 

Jim Purcell, Executive Director, Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies, 

New York City ...................................................................................................... 41 

Terry Cross, Executive Director, National Indian Child Welfare Association, 

Portland Oregon ................................................................................................... 51 

Lupe Tovar, former foster youth, Tucson, Arizona ............................................... 58 

Hope A. Cooper, Project Director, Kids Are Waiting Campaign, The Pew 

Charitable Trusts ................................................................................................. 77 

MaryLee Allen, Director of Child Welfare and Mental Health, The Children’s 

Defense Fund ........................................................................................................ 82 

Khatib Waheed, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy ................ 95 

Pamela Davidson, Vice President, Government Relations, National Council 

for Adoption .......................................................................................................... 100 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

America Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, statement ..... 148 

American Humane, statement ................................................................................ 150 

Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children, Letter ........................ 156 

The Honorable Wally Herger, a Representative from the State of California 160 

National Foster Care Coalition, Letter .................................................................. 162 

Thomas Atwood and Marc Zappala, statement ..................................................... 169 

American Indian Affairs, statement ....................................................................... 170 

Ann Harrmann, statement ...................................................................................... 172 

DePelchin Children’s Center, statement ................................................................ 173 

Gladys Carrion, statement ...................................................................................... 175 

National Council on Disablility, statement ........................................................... 179 

National Governors’ Association, statement .......................................................... 182 

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(1) 

IMPROVING THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INCOME SECURITY AND

FAMILY SUPPORT, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m., in 

room 1100, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Jim McDermott 

(Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. 

[The advisory announcing the hearing follows:] 

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ADVISORY 

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

INCOME SECURITY AND FAMILY SUPPORT 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: (202) 225–1025 

February 20, 2008 

ISFS–15 

Jim McDermott Announces A Hearing on 

Improving the Child Welfare System 

Congressman Jim McDermott (D–WA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Income 

Security and Family Support, today announced a hearing to review legislative proposals designed to improve America’s child welfare system. The hearing will take 

place on Wednesday, February 27, 2008, in the main committee hearing 

room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00am. 

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this 

hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization 

not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Subcommittee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. 

BACKGROUND: 

The child welfare system, which is administered by State and local agencies with 

Federal financial participation and oversight, is responsible for ensuring the safety 

and well-being of vulnerable children and families under its supervision. The system 

faces numerous challenges in ensuring positive outcomes for these children. Between 2001 and 2004, in its first round of Child and Family Service, Reviews, the 

Department of Health and Human Services found that no State achieved all of the 

Federal outcome measures for ensuring the safety, well-being, and permanency of 

children. These evaluations generally indicated that States were most adept at ensuring children were not exposed to repeated child abuse and neglect and remained 

in their homes whenever appropriate and possible, and that States faced the greatest difficulty in achieving permanent and stable living arrangements for children, 

enhancing the capacity of families to meet the needs of their children, and ensuring 

the provision of health care services for kids in care. 

Researchers, commissions, and program administrators have identified certain 

features of the child welfare system that may hamper efforts to promote the wellbeing of at-risk children. Many have pointed to the current Federal financing structure for child welfare activities, which is progressively covering fewer children in 

need of foster care, while also inadequately funding family-oriented services that 

might reduce the need for foster care. Additionally, concerns have been raised about 

the child welfare system’s difficulties in: recruiting and retaining a qualified workforce; providing adequate assistance to relatives caring for children removed from 

their homes; assisting foster children beyond the age of 18; and ensuring adequate 

health care and educational oversight for children in foster care. 

In an effort to comprehensively address these problems, Subcommittee Chairman 

McDermott recently introduced the Invest in KIDS Act (H.R. 5466). This legislation 

would: (1) create a new Federal-State partnership to provide services aimed at reducing the need for foster care; (2) ensure Federal foster care assistance for every 

child in need of care; (3) support a qualified child welfare workforce; and (4) connect 

foster children to support, family, health care and school through such policies as 

allowing Federal foster care coverage to continue until age 21, providing Federal 

guardianship payments for relatives caring for children removed from their homes, 

and requiring improved oversight of the health care and education needs of foster 

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children. Additional proposals have been suggested by other Members of Congress, 

the Administration, national commissions, and advocacy organizations. 

In announcing the hearing, Chairman McDermott stated, ‘‘We have no greater 

responsibility than ensuring the well-being of America’s most vulnerable 

children. I want to begin addressing how we might better meet that obligation, on a comprehensive basis if possible or on an incremental basis if 

needed. These children are depending on us, and failure cannot be an option.’’ 

FOCUS OF THE HEARING: 

The hearing will focus on legislative proposals designed to strengthen the child 

welfare system and improve the outcomes of children in care. 

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS: 

Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee 

website and complete the informational forms. From the Committee homepage, 

http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select ‘‘110th Congress’’ from the menu entitled, 

‘‘Hearing Archives’’ (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings.asp?congress=18). Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, 

‘‘Click here to provide a submission for the record.’’ Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking ‘‘submit’’ on the 

final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supply confirming your 

interest in providing a submission for the record. You MUST REPLY to the email 

and ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance 

with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business March 12, 2008. 

Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol 

Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721. 

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS: 

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing 

record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, 

but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission 

provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for 

the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written 

comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will 

be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee. 

1. All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or 

WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. 

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted 

for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in 

the Committee files for review and use by the Committee. 

3. All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations 

on whose behalf the witness appears. A supplemental sheet must accompany each 

submission listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers of each 

witness. 

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World 

Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov. 

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. 

If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202–225–1721 or 202–226– 

3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). 

Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availjbell on PROD1PC69 with HEARING

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ability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above. 

f 

Chairman MCDERMOTT. The meeting will come to order. We 

are here today to discuss America’s child welfare system and what 

we can do to improve it. As a society, I believe we are judged on 

how we treat the least among us. Knowing what we know about 

the shortcomings in child welfare, let’s hope that the judgment day 

doesn’t come too soon. 

It is not that well-meaning people haven’t tried over the years to 

do some good. It is just that we have continued to build upon a paradigm that doesn’t begin to address the real needs of the child welfare system in the 21st century. 

Nearly 50 years ago, the State of Louisiana expelled 23,000 children from its welfare rolls because they were from ‘‘unsuitable 

homes,’’ which mostly meant their mothers were unmarried. The 

Federal Government responded by saying assistance must continue 

unless the homes were truly unsafe, in which case the child would 

be removed. A year later, 1961, Congress enacted legislation to 

share in the cost of caring for children removed from their homes, 

and so was born the Federal foster care system. 

To be sure, many valuable improvements to the child welfare 

system have been made over the years, but the basic 

underpinnings of the Federal system are still based in that history. 

It is why we cover only a portion of children in foster care, those 

coming from only the very poorest families. It is why the system 

still provides much more money for out-of-home care than for prevention or family support. 

I believe the time has come for a new vision to ensure the protection, permanency, and well-being of America’s vulnerable children. 

Here are a list of the issues that most demand our attention. 

Forty percent of children who have been substantiated as victims 

or abuse or neglect currently receive no follow-up services whatsoever. Forty percent. Only 43 percent of the children removed from 

their homes and placed in foster care receive some Federal assistance in paying for that care, down from 54 percent a decade ago. 

So, actually, we are worse off today than we were 10 years ago. 

The average child welfare caseworker’s tenure on the job is less 

than 2 years, and their caseloads are more than twice the recommended level. 24,000 youngsters aged out of foster care for the 

last year on record with little support and guidance. Finally, the 

health care and educational needs of foster kids are too often an 

afterthought rather than a priority. 

The bill that we have recently introduced, Invest in KIDS Act, 

H.R. 5466, to begin to address these major shortcomings is what 

we are here today to talk about. I present this bill not as the final 

word on reforming child welfare, but as a first step toward developing a vision and a consensus on how we can move forward. 

The legislation is based on a few basic principles. First, the Federal Government should act as a partner with our States to improve outcomes for vulnerable children. This partnership shouldn’t 

begin and end with placing kids in out-of-home care. That is about 

what the system is today. It also should extend to family support 

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and prevention services that might keep kids out of foster care in 

the first place. 

Such a commitment by the Federal Government does not mean 

simply giving States a bag of cash and telling them to spend it. It 

does mean saying to States, counties, and tribes that if they are 

willing to invest their own money to improve outcomes for at-risk 

children, the Federal Government will match that investment. 

This Federal match will continue only if the States’ reforms 

produce positive results, as demonstrated by hard data. Too often 

we start programs, and then they go on forever and we never look 

to see whether they work. That shouldn’t happen. 

Secondly, the Federal Government has an interest in every vulnerable child, and our financing system for foster care should reflect that fact. Instead, we are now providing for fewer and fewer 

foster children with Federal assistance because of an outdated eligibility standard. 

It is the old standard of only serving children in families eligible 

for welfare, but we froze the standard in 1996. A dozen years ago, 

it became even more restrictive, as I say, because we put rules in 

place that said, 1996 will be the date, and we are not going to have 

any increase for wages. No standard of living changes or inflation. 

Third, finally, we must do a much better job of promoting the 

well-being of foster kids. Too often this seems to stop at ensuring 

their immediate physical safety. Of course, that is a paramount interest, but it can’t be our only concern. 

There needs to be a greater interest in the daily lives of these 

children, starting with health care, education, and their connection 

to other family members. It is time to turn another page in our efforts to ensure a better future for America’s most vulnerable kids. 

Given the level of need and the urgency, I would prefer immediate comprehensive reform. If that is not possible, I hope to work 

with my colleagues on this Subcommittee and see if we can make 

meaningful but incremental change. I always like to put out what 

I really want, and then we will talk about what we can get. 

I look forward to working with all the Members of the Subcommittee, including the Ranking Member, Mr. Weller, to achieve 

this goal. I am reminded of something Dr. Martin Luther King 

said: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. There is 

injustice in the child welfare system today that does not, and cannot, fully protect innocent American children. It is up to us to make 

a difference. 

I now yield to Mr. Weller for any opening comments that he may 

have. 

Mr. WELLER. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning. Welcome to my colleagues Mr. Fattah, Mr. Davis, and Ms. 

Bachmann before our Subcommittee. Good to have you here, and 

appreciate the time you are taking as well as the witnesses that 

are going to participate in today’s hearing. 

Mr. Chairman, today’s hearing provides us another opportunity 

to review proposals to our Nation’s child welfare system. As a series of hearings in this and prior Congresses have shown, there is 

a lot of work to do. 

Chairman McDermott recently introduced legislation we will discuss today. I first want to thank the Chairman for including sevjbell on PROD1PC69 with HEARING

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eral provisions that I myself have worked on for many years. One 

provision tracks my legislation, H.R. 2314, to harmonize Federal 

reimbursement rates for training child welfare workers. 

Mr. Purcell, on behalf of the Child Welfare League of America, 

rightly asks, ‘‘Where private, usually not-for-profit agencies are caring for the public’s children, why deny them access to the training 

deemed necessary for all workers?’’ I want to thank the Child Welfare League for supporting this change and for recognizing my efforts on this. 

Another provision would address concerns about child welfare 

services for Native American children. Our first Americans should 

be treated as full Americans, including in child welfare programs. 

Mr. Pomeroy, a Member of this Committee, and I have cosponsored 

legislation, H.R. 4688, along with Mr. Camp, to provide more equitable access to foster care and adoption services for Indian children 

in tribal areas. The bulk of this legislation is included in the Chairman’s bill as well. 

Finally, the Chairman’s legislation builds on a resolution, H.Res. 

733, the Chairman and I co-authored this past year. This resolution highlights the importance of improving the high school graduation rates of foster youth. Under the Chairman’s legislation, States 

would be required to take action in this area. 

We also know that Congress needs to reauthorize the Adoption 

Incentives Program, which expires this year, and is widely regarded as a bipartisan success. As these provisions reflect, there is 

ground here for bipartisan cooperation this year, and in a way that 

could be fully paid for. 

Fortunately, the Chairman’s bill does not stop at just these 

issues. For example, his legislation includes provisions that would 

dramatically reduce the Federal matching rate for foster care payments. Not surprisingly, States, according to the HPHSA’s testimony, urged the Subcommittee to consider alternative funding solutions. 

The Chairman’s legislation also proposes a variety of ways to increase spending in child welfare programs without proposing ways 

to pay for all the additional costs. We are still waiting to hear from 

the Congressional Budget Office what the total cost of this proposal 

would be, but the likely high costs of many of the provisions in the 

Chairman’s legislation make it probably pretty difficult to move 

this year. 

That all suggests that we should work together. We have an opportunity, I believe, to work in a bipartisan way, Mr. Chairman, to 

identify provisions that not only have bipartisan support but also 

that we can get done this year. Like you, Mr. Chairman, I would 

like to get something done this year. 

I look forward to working with the Chairman and other Members 

of this Subcommittee to move that process forward. I think we 

have an opportunity to work in a bipartisan way. Thank you, Mr. 

Chairman. 

Chairman MCDERMOTT. Thank you, Mr. Weller. I will take you 

up on that. We are going to work on this and see what we can get 

done, even in an election year. It is not easy to get things through 

the Senate this year, but we will try. 

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