Date: 2011-09-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 2883. "The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act." which reauthorize Title IVB of the Social Security Act. including the Promoting Safe and Stable Families and Child Welfare Services programs. while also reinstating the authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to authorize States to implement innovative demonstration programs through Title IVE waivers. As Chair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. I have been a stalwart supporter of protecting the health and welfare of children and families. Today there are more than 463.000 children and youth that are in outofhome care. Every day. more than a half million U.S. children are in the foster care system with over 120.000 waiting to be adopted. With no permanent legal guardians. they are our Nations children. and we have a responsibility to ensure a bright future for those who are handed a rough start in life. Foster children like all children deserve a safe environment to grow and nourish in. This piece of legislation is a step in the right direction in addressing the needs of our Nations children when they need our help the most. There are many silent heroes who have opened their homes and taken on the role of foster parents. social workers. mentors. caregivers and volunteers to the children in this Nation. These young kids need to know someone is looking out for them and supporting legislation like the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act provides these silent heroes with additional resources and requirements to meet the needs of children in care. There are an estimated 12 million foster care alumni in the U.S. representing all walks of life. Each and every one of the 12 million alumni has a story of their struggles. challenges and success. The Foster care system is supposed to ensure that children are cared for by members of our communities on a fulltime or temporary basis when their parents are unable to provide adequate care. Often the natural parents cannot provide for a childs care for a variety of reasons such as due to incarceration. physical or mental illness. behavioral difficulties. or problems within the family environment. These issues may include child abuse. alcoholism. extreme poverty. or crime. These children often become wards of the State and we have the responsibility to protect their interests and to ensure they are provided with the care they need. If even a single child continues to be abused or neglected while under state supervision then that is one child too many. This legislation. although not ideal. is a valid attempt to address the needs of families in crisis. In 2001. an estimated 903.000 U.S. children were found to be victims of abuse or neglect. This number is above the estimated 879.000 child maltreatment victims in 2000 but below the annual estimated highs of more than 1 million child maltreatment victims recorded through the mid1990s. For the year 2001. States reported 59 percent of these victims experienced neglect. compared to 63 percent in 2000 and 58 percent in 1999. The percentage of physical abuse and sexual abuse victims has declined over the past 5 years but held constant between 2000 and 2001. These children need our protection. There are over 500.000 children in foster care and with this economic downturn I hope this number does not keep on rising. But hope is not enough. we need to continue to fund programs to help these children and their families. The size of the foster care caseload rises or falls depending upon both the number of entries to foster carechildren who are removed from their homes in a given yearand the number of exits in that same yearchildren reunited with their families. adopted. emancipated. or placed in another permanent setting. The number of entries to foster care has outpaced the number of exits for two decades. Accountability is key. children who received "services from Child Protective Services died as a result of abuse 16 times more often than children in the general population 16.3 percent of all fatalities were children who had received services or were known to the system. These children were already in a high risk category however. we must do our best to transform these numbers and ensure their safety. Currently at least 716 thousand children received "services" (28 States reporting) or 1 percent of the general population. If CPS intervention had no effect. 1 percent of this group would have suffered a fatality. if CPS intervention had made an improvement. the percentage would be less than 1 percent. However. it is 16.3 times that amount. (18 States reporting) At this time children are again bearing the brunt of families in crisis. When a household falls into poverty. children are exposed to increased parental distress. inadequate childcare arrangements. and poor nutrition. This will lead to an increase of families needing child welfare services. For these reasons I support this legislation.