Recognizing Ms. Christine James-Brown on Her Retirement As President of the Child Welfare League of America

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the exceptional service of Christine James-Brown, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), who recently announced her retirement as President.

CWLA is an outstanding organization that works to improve the quality and availability of child welfare and related services through standard-setting and advocacy. Ms. James-Brown began her tenure as President of CWLA in April 2007, assuming the leadership of the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization. Ms. James-Brown has served as the eighth President of this 103-year-old organization. With more than sixteen years of service, she is the second-longest serving President of CWLA. Ms. James-Brown is a national leader in efforts to protect children and strengthen families, and she has led CWLA through historic accomplishments and challenging times.

Ms. James-Brown led CWLA's advocacy efforts to help enact critical child welfare laws, including the Fostering Connections to Success and Promoting Adoptions Act of 2008 and the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018. Her leadership continued CWLA's policy work in areas including kinship care, adoption and foster care services, prevention services, and residential care.

Under Ms. James-Brown's leadership, CWLA worked with members and experts across the country during 2012 and 2013 to develop the CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare that presents a vision for the future of child welfare where all children grow up safely in loving families and supportive communities.

Her service includes her work as a member of the Congressionally- mandated National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine panel with the mission of making recommendations to reduce child poverty in half over ten years. I and other policymakers used those recommendations and the science behind them to champion legislation that helped reduce child poverty during the global pandemic.

During her tenure, Ms. James-Brown helped CWLA continue its leadership and engagement of its network of public and private agencies and partners to advance policies, best practices, and collaborative strategies that result in better outcomes for children, youth, and families. She led the organization through 16 national conferences, including a celebration of 90 years in 2010 and a virtual conference during the pandemic on the organization's 100th anniversary

I join with members of the Child Welfare League of America and the child welfare community to thank Ms. Christine James-Brown for her exceptional service to the children and families of our nation and to wish her health and happiness in her well-deserved retirement.

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