[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 16, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               50TH ANNIVERSARY OF CASEY FAMILY PROGRAMS

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I want to congratulate the board of 
trustees, president and CEO William Bell, and the team at Casey Family 
Programs as this organization celebrates its 50th anniversary this 
month. Casey Family Programs is the Nation's largest operating 
foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care and 
building Communities of Hope for children and families across America. 
Its goal is to influence long-lasting improvements in the safety and 
success of children, families, and the communities where they live. I 
am also proud to say that Casey Family Programs is based in Seattle, 
WA.
  March 15 is Casey's founders day. It is a time for the leaders to 
reflect on the foundation's creator, history, and its mission.
  Jim Casey, the founder of United Parcel Service, saw a critical need 
50 years ago to ensure that our Nation's most vulnerable children had 
safe and stable families who would provide the opportunities and 
support needed to succeed in life. As the eldest child when his father 
passed away, Jim felt responsible for taking care of his mother and 
three siblings at the young age of 14. From a fledgling bicycle 
messenger service that he started in 1907, he steadily grew his company 
into the world's largest delivery and logistics company United Parcel 
Services, UPS, in 1919.
  Jim Casey said in 1947, ``. . . all of us, if we are to accomplish 
anything worthwhile, will do it largely through the help and 
cooperation of the people work with.'' This sentiment led Jim Casey to 
make a generous donation to create several foundations, including 
creation of Casey Family Programs in 1966 to provide direct services to 
children and families.
  Over the next 50 years, Casey Family Programs has grown to work with 
all 50 States and with Native American tribes. Although the foundation 
started with a specific focus on providing quality foster care, after 
considerable experience in direct services, Casey Family Programs 
recognized that it could have greater impact on families and children 
by working to support long-lasting improvements across entire child 
welfare systems and jurisdictions. Today the foundation provides 
strategic consultation, technical assistance, data analysis, and 
independent research and evaluation at no cost to all 50 States, as 
well as county and tribal child welfare jurisdictions across the 
Nation.
  From 2009 to 2015, Casey Family Programs will have invested $45 
million in Washington. It has supported the work of the child welfare 
system, courts, tribes, policymakers, and other organizations to build 
communities of hope that safely reduce the need for foster care and 
support strong, lifelong families for all children. Washington State 
has two Casey field offices serving children and families in Seattle 
and Yakima.
  As a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, which has oversight 
over the Federal foster care funding programs, I value the education 
and research provided by Casey Family Programs. I was proud to support 
the Child and Family Services and Improvement and Innovation Act of 
2011, which renewed the ability of up to 30 States to seek Federal 
waivers to explore better ways to service children and families in the 
child welfare system. Since passage of the law, Casey Family Programs 
has partnered with interested States to provide information, support, 
and research on ways to support States that sought waivers.
  Washington State is one of the waiver States, and the Port Gamble 
S'Klallam Tribe in Washington is the only tribe in our country with a 
Federal waiver. Casey Family Programs is offering support, data, and 
regular meetings to help the waiver States implement their waivers and 
to provide information on the progress of the waivers. This information 
will be valuable in my oversight work on Federal child welfare policy.
  Jim Casey had a vision to help children and families, and the 
leadership of Casey Family Programs today is following his mission with 
a nationwide strategy to safely reduce the number of youth in foster 
care and to invest to build communities of hope. I want to congratulate 
the foundation for 50 years of service, and I look forward to learning 
from Casey's reports and leaders to promote further progress in 
Washington State and across the country.

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