RECOGNIZING NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH -- (House of Representatives - May 15, 2007)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STARK. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of National Foster Care Month. Our child welfare system faces severe challenges and this month provides Congress with the opportunity to make needed reforms.
Our society has an obligation to ensure that all children are raised in safe and loving environments. For the 500,000 children in foster care, the State is responsible for providing a stable home, through reunification with their families, permanent placements, or adoption. Tragically, we are not doing a very good job. Half of all foster children have been in care for more than a year. A quarter have been in the system for more than 3 years. For foster children that remain in the system and ``age out'' with no family supports, the future is not very bright. For those children, the odds are that they will end up in jail, homeless, or reliant on public assistance.
The problems that plague our child welfare system are largely the result of poor Federal and State policy decisions. Luckily, we have the power to reform those policies and directly affect the lives of the hundreds of thousands of children who are counting on us to do the right thing.
There are very concrete steps we can take to improve the foster care system. Congress should reform the financing system to make sure that we provide support for every foster child. Currently, the Federal Government supports less than 50 percent of children in care. We can also take steps to improve the child welfare workforce and reduce the number of cases those workers have to handle. A Federal ceiling for the number of cases a worker can handle should be established so that children get the attention needed to keep them safe. In addition, we have to provide better services to the estimated 25,000 children who leave care each year when they turn 18. All of these children should maintain Medicaid eligibility until they are 21 and we should invest further in training, education, and housing assistance for these children.
The resolution before us (H. Res. 263) can serve as a stepping stone for real action to protect our children and help them flourish. I am proud to support it.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT