Hearing of the Senate Finance Committee - Foster Care Group Homes

Hearing

Thank you Chairman Hatch. You have been a real leader on this topic, and I'm grateful for that.
As the title of this hearing suggests, foster care group homes are "no place to grow up."

There's no question that residential care can play a crucial role in the foster care system. But there is
wide consensus that children and youth, especially young children, are best served in a family setting.
Stays in residential care should be based on the child's specialized behavioral and mental health needs
or a child's clinical disabilities. They should be used only for as long as necessary to stabilize the child or
youth before returning to a family setting.

This notion is catching on. Over the last decade, states have cut by over one third the number of
children living in congregate care. However, there has been wide variation in states' success in this area-
-with some even increasing their use of congregate care over the last decade.

To further reduce residential foster care, the conversation must focus on transforming the old group
home model into one that is nimble and flexible--able to meet the needs of each child and family rather
than forcing an inappropriate and ineffective one-size-fits-all approach.

As this committee will hear today, this transformation is possible, even within the current lopsided
funding system. But, the federal government can make innovation much easier by providing greater
flexibility in the use of Title IV-E foster care funds--flexibility that accepts the reality that there is no
single approach that will work for each and every child and family.

To spur these innovations, more information and more ideas are needed. That's why this hearing is so
important and why we need to hear from today's witnesses about their on-the-ground experiences with
congregate care. I'm especially grateful to Associate Commissioner Chang for coming to discuss the
Administration's proposal to reduce the use of these settings.

I'd like to make three observations on this topic. First, there's no question that high quality, residential
care plays a crucial role in the foster care continuum. But at the same time, it's clear that not
everybody's on the same page when we talk about congregate care. The terms "congregate care,"
"group homes" and "residential treatment" are often used interchangeably; but the structure and
quality of these settings varies widely as our witnesses will show.

Second, it's important that the discussion over safely reducing congregate care commensurately focuses
on building the capacity for foster parents, kin, adoptive parents and entire communities to care for
children in family settings.

And third, the best way to reduce reliance on congregate care is to prevent children from entering foster
care at all. For decades lawmakers, practitioners and advocates have talked about the need to provide
support and prevention services for children and families in crisis. These investments can help keep
children safe in their homes or with other family members while reducing the need for costly and
traumatic transfers to the foster care system.

For this reason, I've drafted legislation to reform the foster care finance structure to give states and
tribes the ability to use federal dollars that are now reserved only for foster care placements to finance
new tools to keep families together.

It's time to consider new approaches, new ways of funding, and new ways of thinking that serve the goal
we all want -- ensuring all kids grow up in healthy, nurturing, and safe environments.

It's no understatement to say children are counting on us to get this right. I look forward to working with
you, Chairman Hatch, my colleagues, and others to make sure we accomplish this goal.

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