[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6856-S6857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 1482. A bill to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct 
research on indicators of child well-being; to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce bipartisan 
legislation today along with my distinguished colleague, Senator 
Olympia Snowe, known as the State Child Well-Being Research Act of 
2007. This bill is designed to enhance child well-being by requiring 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services to facilitate the collection 
of State-specific data based on a set of defined indicators. The well-
being of children is important to both the national and State 
governments and data collection is a priority that should not be 
ignored.
  In 1996, Congress passed bold legislation to dramatically change our 
welfare system, and I supported it. The driving force behind this 
reform was to promote work and self-sufficiency of families and to 
provide flexibility to States--where most child and family legislation 
takes place--to achieve these goals. States have used this flexibility 
to design different programs that work better for families who rely on 
them. Other programs that serve children, ranging from the Children 
Health Insurance Program, CHIP, to child welfare services, can vary 
among States.
  It is obvious that in order for policy makers to evaluate child well-
being, we need State-by-State data on child well-being to measure the 
results. Current survey methods can provide minimal data on some 
indicators of child well-being, but insufficient data is provided on 
low-income families, geographic variation, and young children. 
Additionally, the information is not provided in a timely manner, which 
impedes legislators' ability to effectively

[[Page S6857]]

accomplish the goals set forth in welfare reform.
  The State Child Well Being Research Act Of 2007 is intended to fill 
this information gap by collecting up-to-date, State-specific data that 
can be used by policymakers, researchers, and child advocates to assess 
the well-being of children. It would require that a survey examine the 
physical and emotional health of children, adequately represent the 
experiences of families in individual States, be consistent across 
States, be collected annually, articulate results in easy to understand 
terms, and focus on low-income children and families. This legislation 
also establishes an advisory committee which consists of a panel of 
experts who specialize in survey methodology, indicators of child well-
being, and application of this data to ensure that the purpose is being 
achieved.
  Further, this bill avoids some ofthe other problems in the current 
system by making data files easier to use and more readily available to 
the public. As a result, the information will be more useful for 
policy-makers managing welfare reform and programs for children and 
families.
  Finally, this legislation also offers the potential for the Health 
and Human Service Department to partner with several private charitable 
foundations, including the Annie E. Casey, John D. and Catherine T. 
MacArthur, and McKnight foundations, who are interested in forming a 
partnership to provide outreach and support and to guarantee that the 
data collected would be broadly disseminated. This type of public-
private partnership helps to leverage additional resources for children 
and families and increases the study's impact. Given the tight budget 
we face, partnerships make sense to meet this essential need. I hope my 
colleagues review this legislation carefully and support it so that we 
and State policy makers and advocates have the information necessary to 
make good decisions for children.
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