[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 116 (Monday, September 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1622]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES AMENDMENTS OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 10, 2001

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I am joining my colleague, Representative 
Wally Herger, the Chairman of Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human 
Resources, in introducing legislation today to reauthorize and increase 
funding for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program. This 
legislation would raise the funding level for this important child 
welfare program from $305 million to $505 million per year. In 
addition, the measure would provide new educational assistance for 
children who have aged out of foster care, and establish a new 
mentoring program for the children of prisoners. I commend Health and 
Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson for providing us with detailed 
legislative language on the President's proposals in this area, 
although I was disappointed to see the Administration's recent mid-
session review of its budget proposal backtrack on the President's 
prior commitment to fully implementing these much-needed policies.
  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the bill would have 
outlays of $38 million in FY 2002, meaning that it would not dip into 
the Social Security Trust Funds (CBO projects a $2 billion non-Social 
Security budget surplus in FY 2002). However, we do need to carefully 
evaluate the impact of this new spending on Social Security funds in 
future years. We must maintain a responsible budget framework that does 
not use Social Security funding to finance spending or tax policies. I 
am prepared to make sufficient budgetary changes to ensure this new 
legislation meets that test.
  As a Nation, we rightfully provide temporary foster homes to children 
when they are victims of abuse and neglect. However, we do not 
currently do enough to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place, 
or to avert it from re-occurring once a problem is identified. This is 
exactly the purpose of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, 
which serves families in, or at-risk of becoming involved in, the child 
welfare system. States have broad discretion in spending funds from 
this program for services designed to support at-risk families, to 
reunify families in an environment safe for children, and to promote 
adoption when children cannot safely return home. More specifically, 
States can provide counseling, parenting skills classes, respite 
services, mental health care, comprehensive caseworker oversight, 
referral services to other programs, post-adoption assistance and 
substance abuse treatment. On this last issue, I believe we should 
establish a separate program with a dedicated funding stream to address 
to the pervasive connection between parents abusing drugs and alcohol 
and the incidence of child abuse. Hopefully, that will be our next step 
after the passage of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, with nearly I million confirmed cases of child abuse and 
neglect every year, we must increase our Nation's commitment to helping 
at-risk families and to ensuring safe and nurturing homes for 
defenseless children. This legislation is not a magic wand that will 
singlehandedly eradicate child abuse, but it is an important step in 
our continuing effort to keep children safe and to help families 
succeed. I urge my colleagues to support this important measure.

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