[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4174-S4175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize National Foster 
Care Month, an effort to raise awareness about our responsibility to 
support the more than half a million children across the Nation who are 
living in foster care. I would also like to take this opportunity to 
pay tribute to the dedicated adoptive parents who provide these 
vulnerable youth with the permanent families they deserve.
  Having a family is vitally important to foster youth like JoJo 
Carbonell, from my home State of California. When she was in school, 
JoJo had to ask her teacher to excuse her from the assignment to make a 
family tree because she didn't know any of her relatives except her 
birth mother and her sisters. For JoJo, one of the most important 
reasons that she is now successful and stable is her foster parent, Sue 
Crowley. From Sue, JoJo learned the importance of family and began to 
develop heartfelt traditions she will carry with her forever. As JoJo 
grew older, she and Sue decided to become a permanent family through 
adoption.
  I am proud of California's success in finalizing more than 66,500 
adoptions of children from foster care between 2000 and 2006, but sadly 
many foster youth are never united with a permanent, stable family.
  For Priscilla Davis, who ``aged out'' after spending 3 years at nine 
different placements in California's foster care system, having a 
family would mean having someone she could call if she is having a 
problem; having a family would mean there is someone to catch her if 
she makes a mistake; having a family would mean someone to call if 
something wonderful happens.
  Unfortunately, Priscilla is one of about 4,000 foster youth in 
California, and more than 20,000 youth nationwide who emancipate, or 
``age out'' of foster care every year without ever finding a permanent 
family or establishing a relationship with an adult who will love, 
support, and guide them.
  A recent report by Kids Are Waiting and the Jim Casey Youth 
Opportunities Initiative found that while the total number of children 
in foster care has declined, the number of young people aging out of 
foster care has increased 41 percent since 1998.
  Last year, I introduced the Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act, 
S. 1512, which would extend Federal funding to those States that try to 
provide services that help foster youth transition to adulthood. Right 
now, the future for foster youth when they are emancipated is often 
bleak. In California, about 65 percent of emancipated youth face 
homelessness, less than 3 percent go to college, and 51 percent are 
unemployed.
  While extending support for these services at a Federal level could 
make

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an extraordinary difference in the success of these youth in 
transitioning to adulthood, the best way for us to ensure these youth 
find the families they deserve is to reauthorize the Federal Adoption 
Incentive Program.
  The Adoption Incentive Program encourages States to find foster 
children like JoJo and Priscilla permanent homes through adoption, with 
an emphasis on finding adoptive homes for special needs children and 
foster children over the age of 9. This important program must be 
renewed before it expires on September 30 this year.
  I urge my colleagues to celebrate National Foster Care Month by 
supporting these important efforts to ensure that the Federal 
Government meets its responsibility to care for these youth--not just 
their future, but the future of our Nation depends on it.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, in recognition of May as National Foster 
Care Month, I want to extend my personal thanks to all of the families 
in Washington State and throughout our country who have adopted 
children from the Nation's foster care system. Foster children, through 
no fault of their own, face unique challenges in attaining permanent, 
loving homes. We can all agree that, regardless of background, all 
children in our country deserve to have a safe, loving home and the 
opportunity to pursue their dreams.
  In 2005, almost 1,200 of Washington's children left foster care to 
join adoptive families--but that same year more than 2000 foster 
children in Washington were still waiting to be adopted. They had to 
wait an average of over 3 years to find adoptive families. Vulnerable 
children should not have to wait so long for the safe, permanent 
families that all children need.
  The Federal Adoption Incentive Program, a program first enacted by 
Congress in 1997, plays an important role in encouraging adoption. The 
program provides States like Washington with incentive payments for 
adoptions that exceed an established baseline and includes additional 
incentives for adoptions of older foster children and children with 
special needs. Between 2000 and 2006, the Adoption Incentive Program 
helped 5,700 children in Washington's foster care system join adoptive 
families.
  I am also pleased to support the Kinship Caregiver Act, introduced by 
Senator Clinton in February 2007. The Kinship Caregiver Support Act is 
intended to assist the millions of children who are being raised by 
their grandparents and other relatives because their parents are not 
able to care for them. Among other things, this important legislation 
would establish a Kinship Navigator Program to help link relative 
caregivers to a broad range of services and supports that they need for 
their children and themselves.
  I join my colleagues in the Senate in paying tribute to the many 
prospective and veteran adoptive families, and I look forward to 
pursuing reforms that support children in foster care.

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