[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3841-S3842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ANOTHER AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, last Saturday's Washington Post told the 
story of a devastating, but avoidable, tragedy. It is the story of a 
little 5-year-old boy in Montgomery County, MD, who was locked in his 
bedroom for 22 hours a day, tied to his bed with a cat leash. This 
little boy's mouth was taped shut, his hands and his feet were bound 
together. Little Richard Holmes suffered the kind of abuse that no 
child in this country, or anywhere, ought to suffer.
  That there are 3 million reports of child abuse in America every year 
is a tragedy, but there is an even deeper tragedy in cases like that of 
Richard Holmes. It is the tragedy of a system that tries too hard to 
keep some families together when they are families in name only.
  According to the story in the Washington Post, Richard's grandmother 
and his aunt complained to Montgomery County child protection services 
that Richard was being abused. They made this complaint last year, 
describing to county officials how Richard was returning home from 
visits to his father famished and with bite marks--bite marks--on his 
arms. Their complaints were ignored. In fact, they were accused of 
being troublemakers. Richard's father and his girlfriend are now

[[Page S3842]]

in prison on child abuse charges. This is not new territory for 
Richard's father, who was sentenced to 2 years probation back in 1992 
after his neglect of Richard came to the court's attention the first 
time.

  Mr. President, what on Earth was this little child, this little boy, 
doing back in his father's custody? It is easy to fault the child 
protection services to say that they should have done more, and they 
should have. What I would like to stress today is that those of us in 
the U.S. Senate should do more.
  As I have discussed on this floor on numerous occasions, too often 
child protective services feel themselves hemmed in by a 
misinterpretation of a law that was passed by this Congress in 1980. 
Under the Federal Child Welfare Act, for a State to be eligible for 
Federal matching funds for foster care expenditures, the State must 
have a plan for the provision of child welfare services approved by the 
Secretary of HHS. The State plan must provide ``that in each case, 
reasonable efforts will be made (A) prior to the placement of a child 
in foster care, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the 
child from his home, and (B) to make it possible for the child to 
return to his home.''
  In other words, no matter what the particular circumstances of a 
household may be, the State must make reasonable efforts to keep that 
family together and to put it back together after it falls apart.
  There is strong evidence to suggest that in practice, throughout the 
50 States, reasonable efforts have become extraordinary efforts, 
efforts to keep families together sometimes at all costs and sometimes 
to the detriment of these children.
  I believe that the sad story of Richard Holmes is a very eloquent 
case in point. So is the story of a little Ohio girl named Jenny Lynn. 
She is only 3 years old, and she has already been in eight foster 
homes. Let me repeat that, 3 years old and this poor child has already 
been in eight foster homes. One set of foster parents after another 
have given her up because they are not likely to ever be awarded 
permanent custody, not likely ever to be able to adopt her. She now 
reacts with panic, understandably, whenever she sees trash bags. You 
see, every time she is moved, her clothes, her possessions are moved in 
trash bags. Now when she sees trash bags, she is afraid that she is 
being moved once again.
  Why, Mr. President, is she being moved? Why is this little 3-year-old 
being moved time and time again? Because the county, Mr. President, is 
still trying to reunify her family in this case, still trying to 
reunify her with her parents. The problem is, nobody knows where her 
parents are. Meanwhile, she will continue--I guess until they are 
found--to be shuttled back and forth, back and forth, from foster home 
to foster home.
  This child, this little 3-year-old, is being deprived of what all 
children deserve: Stability, love, loving parents, a home. She is being 
deprived of her childhood.
  Mr. President, you do not need to be an expert on child development 
to know that that kind of childhood will not help Jenny Lynn grow up to 
be a happy adult. Frankly, the whole situation is absurd. And I believe 
we need to do everything we can to make this kind of nightmare occur 
less frequently in this country.
  Today, our friends in the House of Representatives passed 
legislation--the Camp-Kennelly bill--that will help us avoid this kind 
of tragedy. Mr. President, the Senate should do likewise. I have been 
working on similar legislation here in the Senate, legislation 
sponsored by Senator Chafee, Senator Rockefeller, and other Members of 
this body, legislation to make it plain that the health and safety of 
children is and ought to be the primary concern of child protective 
services.
  Mr. President, we are building a bipartisan consensus in support of 
this idea. The case of Richard Holmes ought to remind us that there are 
a lot of kids out there who need our help. We should not delay any 
longer.
  Again, Mr. President, the action of the House of Representatives 
today is great news. I look forward to moving our bill on the Senate 
floor, the Chafee-Rockefeller bill, which among other provisions 
contains this ``reasonable efforts'' language to clarify what we all 
really know and what we all believe and what I am sure Congress meant 
in 1980, and that is, while we should always try to reunify families, 
the best interests of the child, the safety of the child, the welfare 
of the child always--always--must be of paramount concern.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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