[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1058-S1059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MARTINEZ (for himself and Mr. Sessions):
  S. 371. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
clarify the house parent exemption to certain wage and hour 
requirements; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, today I rise to discuss an issue that is 
near and dear to my heart, because it involves children and youth in 
our foster care system. Inconsistencies in our Federal wage laws, 
coupled with increases in the minimum wage, are financially crippling 
the private, non-profit organizations and institutions that make up a 
necessary part of our communities' support systems for the most 
vulnerable in our society, the children.
  More than 500,000 children are in America's foster care system at any 
given time, because their own families are in crisis or unable to 
provide for their essential well-being--most because they have been 
subject to abuse and neglect. Thankfully, most of these children are 
able to be placed with individual caring families. But for those 
children without a suitable or available foster family, they are placed 
in one of the many group homes associated with our foster care system.
  Many of these group homes are specially tailored to the specific 
needs of foster care children by offering unique programs and on-site 
education to help heal the emotional scarring they have experienced.
  These homes--often run by private, non-profit organizations--are 
dedicated to providing residential care and treatment for the ``orphans 
of the living,'' and they have long been a vital part of the social 
service networks in America's communities.
  An essential component of the foster care network is the presence of 
caring parents in a family-like situation. And as in traditional 
parenting, the houseparents of group foster homes seek to provide the 
same love, care, and supervision of a traditional family for the five 
to eight children that reside with them.
  Houseparents volunteer to permanently reside at the group home in 
order to create a family- like environment for those without a true 
sense of home--one that offers a structured atmosphere where these most 
vulnerable youth can heal, grow, and become productive members of 
society.
  Foster care alumni studies show us that it is the consistent and 
life-long connection of caring foster parents that plays the biggest 
role in helping foster children transition into society.
  However, our current laws are working against this cause, forcing 
group homes to move away from what they know is best for the children 
and preventing them from providing the most appropriate and consistent 
care. These youth so desperately need the stability that a family- like 
situation can provide. And this is what my amendment seeks to address.
  Traditionally, in addition to a modest, fixed salary, houseparents 
have received food, lodging, insurance, and transportation free of 
charge.
  In 1974, Congress recognized and confirmed the unique role 
houseparents serve when it passed the Hershey Exemption. This amended 
the Fair Labor Standards Act to preserve the appropriate method of 
compensation for houseparents--and allowed the lodging and food 
provided them to be considered when determining an appropriate salary 
for married houseparents serving with their spouse at nonprofit 
educational institutions.
  Through this exemption, Congress supplied a way for these vital 
social services to continue to be provided by non-profit organizations 
in a way that is cost-effective, and at the same time appropriate and 
meaningful to both the children and the houseparents.
  However, since the addition of this exemption, the demographics of 
America and of America's foster children have changed. Research now 
shows that due to the negative experiences some youth have faced, they 
may find a better environment for growth and healing in having a single 
houseparent of the same sex.
  Our labor standards for these group homes have not kept pace with the 
ever-changing needs of these children.
  Because the Hershey Exemption was only extended to married couples, 
group homes are now forced to choose between what is cheaper and what 
is best for the children. Unfortunately, the financial realities of the 
situation

[[Page S1059]]

place these facilities in a compromising situation.
  You see, when a group home employs a single houseparent for a home, 
they are required to pay them as an hourly employee, whereas married 
houseparents serving together are allowed to be paid as salaried 
employees.
  As a result, it costs a facility in Florida more than $74,000 
annually at the current minimum wage rate to provide a full-time, 
single houseparent using the traditional live-in model.
  In response, most facilities have resorted to teams of houseparents 
that work in 8 or 12 hour shifts--just to avoid the additional costs of 
overtime pay. Yet even this team model is pricey and means tough 
coordination and inconsistencies in care for these children. It also 
destroys the family-like arrangement of the home.
  If the minimum wage bill--to which I am offering this bill as an 
amendment--passes, it will cost facilities across the U.S. in excess of 
$84,000 annually to house and employ a single, full-time houseparent in 
a foster care or educational group home. However, if it were a married 
couple serving in the same environment it would only require minimum 
wage guidelines being met.
  Can you see how this inconsistency in our labor laws is, and will 
continue to be, crippling for the private, non-profit facilities?
  In order to enable group homes to provide the most appropriate and 
consistent care for foster and emotionally scarred youth, my amendment 
will extend the Hershey Exemption to single houseparents, allowing them 
to be treated as salaried employees when free lodging and board are 
provided.
  Voting in favor of my amendment will enable private, non-profit group 
homes to continue providing these vital services for our communities, 
with a stronger atmosphere of love and growth for the children.
  Voting against this amendment will--that is, allowing it not to 
pass--will mean that the already heavy financial burden for these 
facilities will continue to grow. Homes will be forced to close or have 
to scale back on the number of children they can help.
  To vote against this amendment is to turn children out on the street 
at a time when they need us most.
  As a loving parent and grandparent, I want what is best for my 
children and for my grandchildren--I want to make sure they have 
whatever they need to overcome the obstacles of life and succeed. This 
is also what we should seek for foster children and the hurting youth 
in our communities--to provide the loving homes and facilities for them 
that provide what they need most and in the most appropriate and 
consistent way possible.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
reprinted in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 371

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Appropriate and Consistent 
     Care for Youth Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Private, nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing 
     residential care and treatment for children have long been a 
     vital part of the social service networks America's 
     communities.
       (2) No longer just serving orphans, these institutions tend 
     to the needs of the ``orphans of the living'', children and 
     youth who are unable to remain in their natural homes due to 
     emotional conflicts, life adjustment problems, relationship 
     disturbances, and spiritual and psychological scaring 
     associated with sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
       (3) The effectiveness of these institutions in caring for 
     these troubled and abused children has long been due to the 
     love, care, and supervision provided by residential 
     houseparents.
       (4) These houseparents volunteer to permanently reside at 
     the group home in which they work in order to create a family 
     environment for those without a true sense of home, one that 
     offers a structured atmosphere where these vulnerable youth 
     can heal, grow, and become productive members of society.
       (5) Traditionally, these houseparents have received food, 
     lodging, insurance, and transportation free of charge, in 
     addition to a fixed salary.
       (6) Congress recognized the unique role houseparents serve, 
     and passed the Hershey Exemption (section 13(b)(24) of the 
     Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212(b)(24))) in 
     1974 to assist with the provision of houseparents for 
     orphaned and disadvantaged youth by allowing for lodging and 
     food provided free of cost to be considered when determining 
     an appropriate salary for married houseparents serving with 
     their spouse at nonprofit educational institutions.
       (7) Since the addition of the Hershey Exemption, research 
     shows that due to the negative experiences some troubled 
     youth have faced, they find a better environment for growth 
     in having a single houseparent of the same sex.
       (8) Because the wage provision under the Hershey Exemption 
     was extended only to married houseparents serving with their 
     spouse, the Department of Labor has enforced a rule that 
     single houseparents need to be reimbursed on a 24-hour-a-day 
     basis, even for time they are sleeping or otherwise not 
     directly caring for residents of the home, and regardless of 
     the provision of free lodging, food, and other services.
       (9) This has placed an undue financial burden on these 
     nonprofit institutions who wish to provide the best possible 
     care for their residents, forcing some homes to close and 
     others to adopt an employment model where ``teams'' of 
     houseparents work 8-hour sifts to care for residents. This 
     ``team'' model drives up the cost and destroys the family-
     like arrangement of the home.
       (10) In order to provide for a more appropriate and 
     consistent care for these foster children and troubled youth, 
     this Act seeks to extend the Hershey Exemption to single 
     houseparents residing in educational institutions where they 
     receive lodging and board free of charge.

     SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.

       Section 13(b)(24) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
     (29 U.S.C. 212(b)(24)) is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
     ``and his spouse''; and
       (2) in the matter following subparagraph (B)--
       (A) by striking ``and his spouse reside'' and inserting 
     ``resides'';
       (B) by striking ``receive'' and inserting ``receives''; and
       (C) by striking ``are together'' and inserting ``is''.
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