[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 17, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6523-S6524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. Casey):
  S. 1511. A bill to amend part E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to remove barriers to the adoption of children in foster care 
through reauthorization and improvement of the adoption incentives 
program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, throughout my career in the Senate, I 
have been proud to fight tirelessly for policies that will help 
vulnerable children in our foster care system find the permanent homes 
they need and deserve. I have been very proud of the Finance 
Committee's bipartisan work over the years to encourage adoption and 
enhance child welfare services for our most vulnerable children. That 
work would not have been possible without the commitment of Chairman 
Baucus, as well as my other colleagues that I have been so proud to 
work with over the years. Our goal has always been to improve our 
Federal laws related to adoption and foster care, so that every child 
has an opportunity to have a loving, safe home and a successful future.
  To build on our history of encouraging safe and stable families, 
Senator Casey and I are introducing the Removing Barriers to Adoption 
and Supporting Families Act of 2013. This legislation outlines our 
vision for a path to increase the number of successful adoptions from 
foster care in our country. Doing so, we believe, can improve the lives 
of the hundreds of thousands of children in our foster care system.
  This legislation encourages safe and stable families, and takes a 
number of important steps forward to ensure that permanency is 
paramount for children in our foster care system.
  First, the legislation puts incentives in place to help encourage 
interstate adoptions, creating a shared incentive for states that work 
together to connect children in foster care with families who are ready 
and willing to provide loving homes, but who happen to live across 
state lines. It also helps facilitate interstate adoptions further

[[Page S6524]]

through better data tracking and development of national standards for 
home studies, a requirement before a child can be adopted.
  Second, the bill aims to establish permanency for youth by 
eliminating long-term foster care as a goal for children under 17. We 
also request a study to learn more about why long-term foster care has 
been set as a goal for some youth. We believe the study will further 
inform our overall goal of connecting these children to permanent 
families and caring adults. But, simply put, we believe permanent 
foster care should not be a goal for children who are younger than 17.
  Third, this legislation dedicates funding to post-adoption and post-
permanency support services for children who are adopted, or are 
permanently in the care of a relative or guardian. This is an important 
step to make sure that families receive support after a child becomes a 
family member and, more broadly, can help make sure more adoptions and 
permanent placements are successful. Additionally, the legislation 
requires states to engage in public-private partnerships and enhanced 
strategies to find more permanent placements for older youth who are 
most at risk of aging out of foster care. Among our foster care 
population, these are some of our most vulnerable and valuable young 
people who are most in need of guidance and a loving, nurturing home.
  Finally, this legislation would do more to keep siblings together 
after they are removed from an unsafe home. The bond between siblings 
is unique and often an important source of stability for children. 
Unfortunately, once a child joins a permanent home through adoption, 
there are sometimes barriers to maintaining sibling relationships under 
current Federal law. Our legislation helps to remove these barriers by 
strengthening the opportunities for sibling relationships and joint 
placement, and making sure that the parents of siblings are given 
notice if their brother or sister enters foster care.
  Our legislation lays out an important vision for how we can improve 
adoption and foster care in our country. Adoptions from foster care 
have increased in recent years, which means that more families are 
stepping up to adopt children who are in vulnerable situations through 
no fault of their own. But, we have far more to do to ensure that every 
child in foster care has this opportunity. I am extremely grateful to 
many of the adoption advocates, including the Congressional Coalition 
on Adoption Institute, Voice for Adoption, and Listening to Parents, 
among others, who have been so instrumental in developing 
recommendations and moving this and other related proposals forward.
  Together, we can make great strides toward improving opportunities 
for the nearly 400,000 children in foster care, of which 102,000 are 
waiting to find forever families through adoption. New data from the 
Department of Health and Human Services on adoption and foster care 
suggests that while the number of children in foster care remains 
steady, the adoption rate continues to climb. Last year alone, 52,000 
children were adopted from foster care and for each of those children, 
being adopted is a positive, affirming, and life-changing event. 
Through our work, we can provide more of these opportunities for 
children in foster care, and set them up to have successful lives with 
forever families.
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