Improving Outcomes of Children Affected by "Meth" Act of 2006

IMPROVING OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN AFFECTED BY ``METH'' ACT OF 2006 -- (Senate - July 14, 2006)

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, the Senate has passed an important bill, Chairman Grassley's Improving Outcomes for Children Affected by ``Meth'' Act of 2006. This legislation will reauthorize the Safe and Stable Families Program and target $40 million in new funding to programs to help children affected by methamphetamine abuse and addiction.

West Virginia, like all too many States, is facing severe problems with a methamphetamine epidemic. There is by all reports a rapid spread and growth of this pernicious addiction. SAMSHA reports that methamphetamine abuse has increased more than 420 percent for persons 12 years and older during the past decade. And according to a well-cited National Association of Counties survey, the epidemic is no longer targeting rural States like my own. Much to my dismay we are finding addicts in suburban high schools as well as urban areas. Addicts are white and blue collar workers and the unemployed who are in their twenties or thirties. Use is equally divided among males and females.

The legislation offered today is part of the reauthorization for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program. Our child welfare system relies on the principles and services mandated by Safe and Stable Families Programs. I have wholeheartedly worked on this program since its inception in 1993. I have continued over the years to support modifications that fit the changing needs of the children.

It is essential that our most vulnerable children remain safe and that they find emergency placements and permanent homes. Programs such as Foster Care remain a foundational safeguard for children. Children find refuge in foster homes when they are placed in harm's way due to neglect or abuse. Permanence of placement represents an enduring goal of Safe and Stable. This objective provides a child the hope of living conditions that support physical and psychological health. The Safe and Stable Programs ultimately assist with decisions about family reunification and adoption.

Of course, there remains a lot more work to be done. Our foster care system is overburdened. There is all too often a lack of coordination among agencies and services that serve children and their families. And currently many programs are especially stressed by the expanding and invasive problems brought on by the next generation of illicit drugs. Right now our children need more help.

The goals of Improving Outcomes for Children Affected by ``Meth'' Act are consistent with the spirit and design of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Programs. This act targets the growing problems caused by a cheaply made, easily available, lethal drug.

The facts are, to say the least, extremely disturbing. The National Association of Counties survey points to the rise of out-of-home placements due to methamphetamine addiction by as much as 71 percent in California counties and 70 percent in responding Colorado counties. This year in Montana, State officials reported at least 50 percent of child abuse and neglect cases involved methamphetamine abuse. I know that in southern West Virginia alone there have been over 100 laboratory busts since October, 2005. And according to a survey by the Rebecca Project, over 10,000 children in the U.S. were either present at a lab seizure or lived where the lab was seized between 2000 and 2003. These labs produce 5 pounds of toxic waste as a result of producing 1 pound of methamphetamine. There are too many children in harm's way.

This bill creates new competitive grants to support regional partnerships that provide services to children who are affected by their caretakers' methamphetamine abuses. The bill reserves $40 million to fund these grants.

I know that these grants are not a cure-all, but this legislation is a firm step in the right direction in several ways. First, regional demonstration projects can further identify intervention models that are showing some good results. We also are on the mark when we encourage community health care providers, law enforcement agencies, judges, and statewide child welfare agencies to form more coherent and efficient partnerships. These grants can target innovative prevention programs that reach at-risk children before out-of-home placements are necessary. Finally the grants are available for innovative family-based programs, comprehensive long-term treatment services, and counseling for the children. It is good that the Senate has passed this legislation, and we need to work with the House to secure passage of a final bill that can be signed into law by the President this year.

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