I am excited to hear that yesterday afternoon President Bush signed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. This is a wonderful accomplishment!
Passing legislation is never easy and this was no exception. A very special thank you to all the grandparent and other relative caregivers and children who shared their stories with lawmakers and staff. Also, thank you to our amazing policy team for their excellent work in particular, Jaia Peterson Lent and Terence Kane.
Please stay tuned to our website for more information about all the benefits of the new law and how you can help implement it in your state and community.
Showing posts with label Subsidized Guardianship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Subsidized Guardianship. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Landmark Bill for Grandfamilies Passes Congress
I am thrilled to share with you some exciting news. Yesterday, the United States Senate unanimously passed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. The bill now goes to the President for his signature. The Act will help thousands of children and youth by promoting permanent families for children in foster care through relative guardianship and adoption and helping with access to other supportive services for grandparent-and other relative-headed families.
The bill is the most significant federal recognition to date of the contribution grandparents and other relatives make in raising our nation’s children. The Senate and House deserve credit for taking this groundbreaking and bi-partisan action: one that dramatically increases the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of children and their families. You can click here for a full summary.
Thank you to everyone for all their hard work in making calls, writing letters, and visiting with their legislators to pass this bill through Congress. Your stories brought this issue to life for your Members of Congress and inspired them to act.
In addition to your hard work, there are a number of legislators who deserve our gratitude. Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Timothy Johnson (R-IL) were early and steadfast champions of legislation to support grandfamilies with the first introduction of the Kinship Caregiver Support Act over four years ago, many provisions of which were included in this final bill. Their consistent advocacy combined with the strong leadership of Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee leaders Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Jerry Weller (R-IL) made this landmark legislation a reality.
This was truly a team effort from everyone and was many years in the making. I can't wait for the President to sign the bill into law and starting the celebrations.
The bill is the most significant federal recognition to date of the contribution grandparents and other relatives make in raising our nation’s children. The Senate and House deserve credit for taking this groundbreaking and bi-partisan action: one that dramatically increases the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of children and their families. You can click here for a full summary.
Thank you to everyone for all their hard work in making calls, writing letters, and visiting with their legislators to pass this bill through Congress. Your stories brought this issue to life for your Members of Congress and inspired them to act.
In addition to your hard work, there are a number of legislators who deserve our gratitude. Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Timothy Johnson (R-IL) were early and steadfast champions of legislation to support grandfamilies with the first introduction of the Kinship Caregiver Support Act over four years ago, many provisions of which were included in this final bill. Their consistent advocacy combined with the strong leadership of Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee leaders Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Jerry Weller (R-IL) made this landmark legislation a reality.
This was truly a team effort from everyone and was many years in the making. I can't wait for the President to sign the bill into law and starting the celebrations.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Intergenerational Themes Championed at the Senate Finance Committee
Earlier today the Senate Finance Committee passed two historic bills out of committee, the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act and the Elder Justice Act. The bills are a testament to the value of intergenerational cooperation and public policy.
Chairman Baucus began the markup by quoting Hubert Humphrey, “The moral test of government is how the government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” By battling elder abuse and finding permanent homes for children, the Senate Finance Committee passed that intergenerational test with flying colors today.
The Improved Adoption Incentives Act contains many of the same provisions of the Kinship Caregiver Support Act, including authorizing subsidized guardianship to enable children in the care of grandparents and other relatives to exit foster care into permanency; establishing Kinship navigator programs to help link relative caregivers both inside and outside of the formal child welfare system to a broad range of services and supports that will help them meet the needs of the children in their care; requiring notice be given to adult relatives of a child if he or she is placed in foster care; and allowing states in a demonstration program the option to set separate licensing standards for relative foster parents and non-relative foster parents.
Chairman Baucus remarked that the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act was the most far-reaching and important piece of child welfare legislation the committee had considered in a decade.
There are still several steps before these important bills become law, but I don’t want to let this day pass without congratulating Senators Clinton, Grassley, Lincoln, Rockefeller and Snowe, and many others for their hard work and leadership to move both pieces of legislation.
Lastly, let me echo Senator Grassley's request that this legislation get passed before the Adoption Incentive Program expires at the end of the month. Our children have waited too long for a permanent home for us to delay any longer.
Chairman Baucus began the markup by quoting Hubert Humphrey, “The moral test of government is how the government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” By battling elder abuse and finding permanent homes for children, the Senate Finance Committee passed that intergenerational test with flying colors today.
The Improved Adoption Incentives Act contains many of the same provisions of the Kinship Caregiver Support Act, including authorizing subsidized guardianship to enable children in the care of grandparents and other relatives to exit foster care into permanency; establishing Kinship navigator programs to help link relative caregivers both inside and outside of the formal child welfare system to a broad range of services and supports that will help them meet the needs of the children in their care; requiring notice be given to adult relatives of a child if he or she is placed in foster care; and allowing states in a demonstration program the option to set separate licensing standards for relative foster parents and non-relative foster parents.
Chairman Baucus remarked that the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act was the most far-reaching and important piece of child welfare legislation the committee had considered in a decade.
There are still several steps before these important bills become law, but I don’t want to let this day pass without congratulating Senators Clinton, Grassley, Lincoln, Rockefeller and Snowe, and many others for their hard work and leadership to move both pieces of legislation.
Lastly, let me echo Senator Grassley's request that this legislation get passed before the Adoption Incentive Program expires at the end of the month. Our children have waited too long for a permanent home for us to delay any longer.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
New Adoption Report
A new report on adoption and its interaction with race is out today. The report draws attention to the failing of this nation to find permanent homes for minority children in the foster care system. African American children represent an astounding 32% of all children in the child welfare system despite the fact they only represent 15% of children in the country.
This kind of wide-spread failure to place minority children in permanent homes means policy makers and advocates need to urgently seek out solutions that have proven results. The report identifies the success of Illinois in placing minority children in permanent homes with relatives through subsidized guardianship.
I applaud the report for recommending federal subsidized guardianship as an important avenue to permanency for these children.
Federal subsidized guardianship would allow children another option to exit foster care, while giving relatives the support they need to care for children.
Link to the Report:
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/MEPApaper20080527.pdf
This kind of wide-spread failure to place minority children in permanent homes means policy makers and advocates need to urgently seek out solutions that have proven results. The report identifies the success of Illinois in placing minority children in permanent homes with relatives through subsidized guardianship.
I applaud the report for recommending federal subsidized guardianship as an important avenue to permanency for these children.
Federal subsidized guardianship would allow children another option to exit foster care, while giving relatives the support they need to care for children.
Link to the Report:
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/MEPApaper20080527.pdf
Monday, November 12, 2007
New York Times Series on Foster Care
I had a chance to read The New York Times articles this week on the foster care system in New York. It amazes me how a bureaucratic nightmare can jeopardize an entire foster care system and prevent so many kids from finding a permanent home. I really think we have to look at federal subsidized guardianship as part of the solution. Subsidized guardianship removes so much of the unnecessary administrative work for kids who have already found a safe and loving home with a family member and just need a permanency option. And the more kids who find permanent homes, the more resources and energy foster care agencies will have to devote to other kids.
The numbers and percentages of children with grandparents and relatives speak for themselves. In New York 17% of foster children were living with a relative on average between 2001 and 2003. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, almost six million children across the country were living in households headed by grandparents and other relatives.
Just remember… Kids age out of a system. They don’t age out of a family.
The numbers and percentages of children with grandparents and relatives speak for themselves. In New York 17% of foster children were living with a relative on average between 2001 and 2003. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, almost six million children across the country were living in households headed by grandparents and other relatives.
Just remember… Kids age out of a system. They don’t age out of a family.
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