[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 173 (Thursday, December 13, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13141-S13142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to thank my colleagues for 
supporting and passing H.R. 2873, the Promoting Safe and Stable 
Families Program. Earlier this Fall, Senator Rockefeller and I 
introduced similar legislation.
  The bill we are passing today, like our Senate bill, reauthorizes 
four programs designed to help child welfare agencies establish and 
maintain permanency by providing grants to States and Indian tribes. 
The bill also includes programs that the President has proposed, which 
have my utmost support, as well as a technical correction that Senator 
Rockefeller and I have proposed to ensure that special needs children 
continue to be eligible for adoption assistance.
  The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program provides vital 
services for thousands of at risk children in our Nation. The sad fact 
is that far too many children here at home are at risk, not because of 
the terrorist threat, but because they are neglected or abused by 
parents or because they are trapped in the legal limbo that is our 
child welfare system. Because of this, we have an obligation to these 
children. We have an obligation to protect these innocent lives.
  With the passage of our bill, we are taking a big step toward meeting 
that obligation. By reauthorizing and improving the Safe and Stable 
Families Program, we can help strengthen families and ensure the safety 
of vulnerable children.
  I was very pleased that during the Floor debate on the fiscal year 
2002 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, the Senate agreed to my amendment, 
which increased funding for the Safe and Stable Families Program by $70 
million. This raised the program's overall funding level to $375 
million.
  The funding provided to the States through this legislation is used 
for four categories of services: family preservation, community-based 
family support, time-limited family reunification, and adoption 
promotion and support. These services are designed to prevent child 
abuse and neglect in communities at risk, avoid the removal of children 
from their homes, and support timely reunification or adoption. And, 
quite candidly, Promoting Safe and Stable Families is a very important 
source of funding for post-adoption services.
  With a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of adoptions since 
the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, funding for 
adoption promotion and support services is especially vital. These 
services are necessary to ensure that adoptions are not disrupted, 
which risks further traumatizing a child.
  Our reauthorization bill also amends the Foster Care Independent 
Living Program to extend the eligibility age from 21 to 23, so that 
children aging out of foster care can qualify for educational and 
training vouchers. Currently, too many of the 16,000 children youth who 
age out of foster care are not able to pursue educational or vocational 
training because they just don't have the money. This provision helps 
these young people get the education and career training they need and 
deserve.
  The bill doubles the funding for the Court Improvement Program, CIP, 
and reauthorizes it through 2006. The CIP program provides grants to 
the States to develop a system of more timely court actions that 
provides for the

[[Page S13142]]

safety of children in foster care and expedites the placement of such 
children in appropriate permanent settings. This money helps ensure 
that State courts have the resources necessary to stay in compliance 
with the Adoption and Safe Families Act. In my own home State of Ohio, 
this money has been used to develop and implement an attorney 
certification program in family law. Additionally, the CIP money has 
been used to implement the Court Appointed Special Advocate, CASA, 
Program throughout Ohio and to implement five pilot programs that 
uniquely address family law issues.
  Also, Senator Rockefeller and I have added a technical correction to 
the bill that would clarify how adoption assistance payments are 
distributed. Prior to January 23, 2001, title IV-E adoption assistance 
payments were available to parents adopting children who met three 
special needs criteria, regardless of whether a child was placed by a 
private agency or the State foster care system. Unfortunately, some 
private agencies were using only one of the three special needs 
criteria to access payments for these adoptive families.
  The January 23 adoption assistance decision draws a distinction 
between private and State foster care systems to prevent the misuse of 
funds. However, the decision has had the unintended consequence of 
adversely affecting agencies such as Catholic Charities and their 
ability to provide adoptive families with payments. Our correction 
focuses on the children--not the placement agency--by making special 
needs children adopted through voluntary relinquishment eligible for 
adoption assistance payments.
  I am particularly pleased with some of the President's new 
initiatives authorized in our bill. For example, the President has 
proposed that the Department of Health and Human Services be authorized 
to provide competitive grants to support mentoring programs for 
children of incarcerated parents. With more than 2 million children 
with incarcerated parents, this program would provide valuable outreach 
to this vulnerable group of children.
  I thank my colleagues for supporting our bill today. This is a good 
bill. It is an important bill. It is a major step forward in our 
continuing efforts to protect all children in this Nation.

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