[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 107 (Thursday, June 26, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1377-E1378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  FOSTERING CONNECTIONS TO SUCCESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. JOHN LEWIS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 24, 2008

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
6307, the Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2008.
  First, let me thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) and 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) for their leadership and 
bipartisanship in crafting this effort to assist children and families 
in our Nation's child welfare system.
  Madam Speaker, young people in the child welfare system have done 
nothing wrong. They are victims of abuse and neglect. H.R. 6307 will 
provide Federal support for kinship care, increase adoption incentives, 
and provide assistance for foster youth up to age 21. This bill opens 
the door by addressing many issues facing children in foster care and 
those who care for them.
  I am particularly proud that our Subcommittee Chairman, the gentleman 
from Washington (Mr. McDermott) shared the words of my constituent, Mr. 
Anthony Reeves, a former foster care youth about the importance of 
making these changes. I am honored to have another outstanding young 
woman and former foster care youth from Georgia,

[[Page E1378]]

Ms. Brittany Scott, interning in my congressional office this summer. 
When you see their passion and determination to commit, work, and act 
to change the lives of their friends, siblings, and the Nation's way of 
serving those most in need, you know we must take action.
  This legislation is good; it is right. But we can do better, and we 
must do better. Across the country, case workers lack proper training 
and are overworked and underpaid. Foster children are expelled from the 
system at 18 with little to no support. Kinship care providers and 
adoptive parents lack support when caring for foster children. And when 
programs are in place they are often fragile because of lack of 
funding. We need to help those on the front lines.
  One of the major components of Mr. McDermott's broader child welfare 
reform bill that I support is revising the so-called ``look back'' 
provision. Using an outdated 1996 Federal standard to determine poverty 
levels is a major reason that children are denied Title IV-E assistance 
in Georgia. Currently, only half of the abused and neglected children 
in foster care across the country are eligible for Title IV-E funding.
  States continue to lack the funding needed to adequately improve 
services to youth in the child welfare system. States also face drastic 
cuts to the social services they provide as a result of the Deficit 
Reduction Act. These are just some of the many challenges that face our 
Nation's child welfare systems. We cannot afford to ignore them any 
longer.
  We need to look across the board at new and diverse ways to make the 
process work better. We must come together and do what is right for 
America's foster care youth. Again, I applaud my Ways and Means 
colleagues for this strong bipartisan effort. I look forward to 
continuing to work with them on improving services, support, and 
assistance for those most in need.
  I urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 6307.

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