[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 50 (Thursday, April 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3626-S3627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN:
  S. 1683. A bill to amend part E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to require States to regard adult relatives who meet State child 
protection standards as the preferred placement option for children, 
and to provide for demonstration projects to test the feasibility of 
establishing kinship care as an alternative to foster care for a child 
who has adult relatives willing to provide safe and appropriate care 
for the child; to the Committee on Finance.


                      the kinship care act of 1996

 Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I introduce the Kinship Care Act of 
1996. Today Representative Connie Morella is introducing companion 
legislation in the House.
  Grandparents caring for grandchildren represent one of the most 
underappreciated natural resources in our Nation. They hold tremendous 
potential for curing one of our society's most pressing maladies: The 
care of children who have no parents, or whose parents simply aren't up 
to the task of providing children a stable, secure and nurturing living 
environment.
  There is such a great reservoir of love and experience available to 
us, and more especially to the tens of thousands of American children 
who desperately need basic care giving. We provide public assistance to 
strangers for this kind of care, but the folks available to provide 
foster care homes are in short supply.
  At the same time, inflexibility in current regulations often force us 
to

[[Page S3627]]

ignore a precious alternative that is right at our doorstep. Our public 
policy planners have missed the forest for the trees. Grandparents can 
fill the gap. They are ready, willing and able to provide the kind of 
care these youngsters so desperately need.
  The legislation I plan to introduce in the Senate today will give 
States the flexibility to provide the support these grandparents need, 
so that our seniors can help fill the care gap.
  The House included my legislation, similar to today's bill, as part 
of the welfare reform measure last year. My new legislation will 
continue the process of shifting the focus of our child welfare system 
from turning children over to strangers, to granting them the loving 
arms of grandparents and other relatives.
  States have been moving in this direction for over a decade. Over the 
past 10 years the number of children involved in extended family 
arrangements has increased by 40 percent. Currently, more than 3 
million children are being raised by their grandparents. In other 
words, 5 percent of all families in this country are headed by 
grandparents.
  It's time that the Federal Government get with the program and start 
developing policies that make it easier, instead of more difficult, for 
families to come together to raise their children.
  My bill has several parts. The first would require States to give 
preference to relative providers when a child is removed from their 
parents' home. Too often I have heard stories of grandparents or other 
relatives, not finding out that their grandchildren have been removed 
from their children's home. By the time they know what is happening, 
the grandchildren are locked into the foster care system.
  Often I have heard stories where brothers and sisters are split up 
and grandparents spend years in court trying to reunite their own 
families. As we rethink our child protection system, we need to 
rededicate ourselves to looking to families, including extended 
families, for solutions. When a child is separated from their parents, 
it is usually a painful and traumatic experience. Living with people 
that a child knows and trusts gives children a better chance in the 
world and gives families a better chance to rebuild themselves.
  The second part of my bill allows States to obtain waivers to set up 
kinship care guardianship systems where grandparents and other relative 
providers can receive some financial assistance without having to turn 
over custody of the child to the State, and without having to go 
through the paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles of the foster care 
system.
  Our child protection system is where our welfare system was about 10 
years ago. We know it isn't working well, but States and the Federal 
Government are still fumbling for solutions. What we need to do now, as 
we did for our welfare system, is start opening the door for States to 
try new ideas to both protect children and keep families together.
  As we reevaluate the effectiveness of our country's child protection 
systems, it's time that we identify new ideas and new ways to find 
loving environments for our Nation's most vulnerable children. 
Grandparents can provide the lynchpin for such a new system.
                                 ______