[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 22, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1524-H1528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MODERNIZING THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE ACT
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 4472) to amend title IV of the Social Security Act
to require States to adopt a centralized electronic system to help
expedite the placement of children in foster care or guardianship, or
for adoption, across State lines, and to provide grants to aid States
in developing such a system, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4472
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Modernizing the Interstate
Placement of Children in Foster Care Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) when a child in foster care cannot return safely home,
the child deserves to be placed in a setting that is best for
that child, regardless of whether it is in the child's State
or another State;
(2) the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
(ICPC) was established in 1960 to provide a uniform legal
framework for the placement of children across State lines in
foster and adoptive homes;
(3) frequently, children waiting to be placed with an
adoptive family, relative, or foster parent in another State
spend more time waiting for this to occur than children who
are placed with an adoptive, family, relative, or foster
parent in the same State, because of the outdated,
administratively burdensome ICPC process;
(4) no child should have to wait longer to be placed in a
loving home simply because the child must cross a State line;
(5) the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise
(NEICE) was launched in August 2014 in Indiana, Nevada,
Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and the District of
Columbia, and is expected to be expanded into additional
States to improve the administrative process by which
children are placed with families across State lines;
(6) States using this electronic interstate case-processing
system have reduced administrative costs and the amount of
staff time required to process these cases, and caseworkers
can spend more time helping children instead of copying and
mailing paperwork between States;
(7) since NEICE was launched, placement time has decreased
by 30 percent for interstate foster care placements; and
(8) on average, States using this electronic interstate
case-processing system have been able to reduce from 24
business days to 13 business days the time it takes to
identify a family for a child and prepare the paperwork
required to start the ICPC process.
SEC. 3. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.
(a) In General.--Section 471(a)(25) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(25)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``provide'' and insert ``provides''; and
(2) by inserting ``, which, not later than October 1, 2026,
shall include the use of an electronic interstate case-
processing system'' before the 1st semicolon.
(b) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter
beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and shall apply to payments under part E of title IV of the
Social Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or
after such date.
(2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--If the
Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State
legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is
required in order for a State plan developed pursuant to part
E of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the
additional requirement imposed by the amendments made by
subsection (a), the plan shall not be regarded as failing to
meet any of the additional requirements before the 1st day of
the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the first regular
session of the State legislature that begins after the date
of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding
sentence, if the State has a 2-year legislative session, each
year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular
session of the State legislature.
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELECTRONIC
INTERSTATE CASE-PROCESSING SYSTEM TO EXPEDITE
THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER
CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION.
Section 437 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 637) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Grants for the Development of an Electronic
Interstate Case-processing System to Expedite the Interstate
Placement of Children in Foster Care or Guardianship, or for
Adoption.--
``(1) Purpose.--The purpose of this subsection is to
facilitate the development of an electronic interstate case-
processing system for the exchange of data and documents to
expedite the placements of children in foster, guardianship,
or adoptive homes across State lines.
``(2) Application requirements.--A State that desires a
grant under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary an
application containing the following:
``(A) A description of the goals and outcomes to be
achieved during the period for which grant funds are sought,
which goals and outcomes must result in--
``(i) reducing the time it takes for a child to be provided
with a safe and appropriate permanent living arrangement
across State lines;
``(ii) improving administrative processes and reducing
costs in the foster care system; and
``(iii) the secure exchange of relevant case files and
other necessary materials in real time, and timely
communications and placement decisions regarding interstate
placements of children.
``(B) A description of the activities to be funded in whole
or in part with the grant funds, including the sequencing of
the activities.
``(C) A description of the strategies for integrating
programs and services for children who are placed across
State lines.
``(D) Such other information as the Secretary may require.
``(3) Grant authority.--The Secretary may make a grant to a
State that complies with paragraph (2).
``(4) Use of funds.--A State to which a grant is made under
this subsection shall use the grant to support the State in
connecting with the electronic interstate case-processing
system described in paragraph (1).
``(5) Evaluations.--Not later than 1 year after the final
year in which grants are awarded under this subsection, the
Secretary shall submit to the Congress, and make available to
the general public by posting on a website, a report that
contains the following information:
``(A) How using the electronic interstate case-processing
system developed pursuant to paragraph (4) has changed the
time it takes for children to be placed across State lines.
``(B) The number of cases subject to the Interstate Compact
on the Placement of Children that were processed through the
electronic interstate case-processing system, and the number
of interstate child placement cases that were processed
outside the electronic interstate case-processing system, by
each State in each year.
``(C) The progress made by States in implementing the
electronic interstate case-processing system.
``(D) How using the electronic interstate case-processing
system has affected various metrics
[[Page H1525]]
related to child safety and well-being, including the time it
takes for children to be placed across State lines.
``(E) How using the electronic interstate case-processing
system has affected administrative costs and caseworker time
spent on placing children across State lines.
``(6) Data integration.--The Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretariat for the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of Children and the States, shall assess how the
electronic interstate case-processing system developed
pursuant to paragraph (4) could be used to better serve and
protect children that come to the attention of the child
welfare system, by--
``(A) connecting the system with other data systems (such
as systems operated by State law enforcement and judicial
agencies, systems operated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation for the purposes of the Innocence Lost National
Initiative, and other systems);
``(B) simplifying and improving reporting related to
paragraphs (34) and (35) of section 471(a) regarding children
or youth who have been identified as being a sex trafficking
victim or children missing from foster care; and
``(C) improving the ability of States to quickly comply
with background check requirements of section 471(a)(20),
including checks of child abuse and neglect registries as
required by section 471(a)(20)(B).''.
SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDING TO PROMOTE SAFE
AND STABLE FAMILIES.
Section 437(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
637(a)) is amended by striking ``2016'' and inserting
``2017''.
SEC. 6. RESERVATION OF FUNDS TO IMPROVE THE INTERSTATE
PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN.
Section 437(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
637(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Improving the interstate placement of children.--The
Secretary shall reserve $5,000,000 of the amount made
available for fiscal year 2017 for grants under subsection
(g), and the amount so reserved shall remain available
through fiscal year 2021.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K.
Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
General Leave
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4472, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Indiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of key points I would like to
emphasize to explain how this legislation came to be and why I believe
it is so important at this critical juncture.
First, my wife, Jenny, and I have four young children of our own. As
a parent, I know I speak for millions when I say that every child
deserves to grow up in a stable, loving home.
When the bond between parent and child is broken and children cannot
safely return home, they deserve to be placed in a setting that is best
for them, regardless of whether that is a home within their State or
across a State line. However, due to various factors, children are
languishing in the child welfare system, waiting to be placed with an
adoptive family, a relative, or foster parents in another State.
One contributor is the fact that today, in order to place a child
with a grandparent across a State line, caseworkers must literally
print out hundreds of pages of paperwork, package it up, and mail case
files to another State. The receiving State responds in kind,
completing their portion, and then mailing the case file back. It is an
antiquated process that, on average, takes more than 5 months to
complete. At a time when communities, courts, and caseworkers across
the country are already overwhelmed, this inefficient, paper-based
placement process is simply unacceptable.
For children, the sooner we get them placed into a forever home, the
better. I say this as someone with experience. Before entering
Congress, I provided pro bono legal services for adoptive couples.
These situations I have seen can be extremely hard on all parties, but
none more so than the child.
{time} 1400
You don't have to take my word for it. Statistics show that the
longer a child remains in the child welfare system, the less likely
they are to have successful outcomes later in life.
When proven interventions that can help these children present
themselves, I believe it is our moral imperative to act. It is this
belief that led to the solution we are discussing here today.
The Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care
Act would incentivize States to connect to an electronic interstate
case processing system that has already been tested in a handful of
States, including my home State of Indiana and the District of
Columbia.
These pilot programs achieved substantial reductions in the time it
took to place these children into forever homes, reducing the time a
child waited by 30 percent. For a child, that means a month and a half
less time being shuffled from foster home to foster home and from being
taken in and out of school without a set routine.
In one pilot scenario, Indiana had an emergency request to place a
child with a relative in Florida. Use of the system allowed both pilot
States to exchange their case information the very same day, which,
under the current system, could have taken weeks.
In another scenario, an urgent matter came to Florida's attention
where a placement was breaking down and the child needed to be moved.
The way the interstate placement process currently works, this child
could have been sent back into the overloaded foster care system and
back into temporary care arrangements for another couple of months.
Instead, Florida's use of this electronic system made a long-term
placement of the child possible within 48 business hours.
We can expect to see more of these positive results as use of this
electronic system is expanded.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join Congressman Todd Young in leading
H.R. 4472, the Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in
Foster Care Act.
I joined my friend from Indiana in introducing H.R. 4472 because it
would help us make progress on an important issue: reducing the
barriers and delays that continue to exist when the best new home for a
child is in a different State than the unsafe home the child had to
leave.
Given that my Congressional District has one of the highest
percentages of grandparents raising grandchildren in the Nation,
followed closely by two other Congressional Districts in Illinois,
child welfare issues are very personal to my constituents, to Chicago,
and to my home State.
Removing barriers that delay or prevent interstate child placements
is a long-time, bipartisan goal within Congress. This bill addresses an
important factor in those delays: the ability of State computer systems
to link up to process the paperwork. The current paper-based system is
antiquated and slow.
As part of an HHS pilot project, seven States and the District of
Columbia currently participate in the National Electronic Interstate
Compact Enterprise, or NEICE, an online tool that allows State office
systems to talk to each other and process interstate placements more
quickly. I am very proud of the fact that Illinois is one of these
States.
An early evaluation found that this system reduced waiting times for
affected children by about one-third. Ten other States have already
announced plans to join the exchange over the next 2 years. H.R. 4472
would accelerate the number of participating States in the short run
and ensure that all States participate in the long run.
The Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services, George Sheldon, often emphasizes that we need to operate in
kid time, not adult time, meaning that we need to recognize the urgency
of restoring permanency for children in child welfare, rather than
allowing adult bureaucracy to impede permanency.
Modernizing the technology to increase efficiencies and quicken
placements is common sense and respects the urgency of finding
permanent, loving homes for children.
I am grateful to Mr. Young of Indiana for ensuring that the bill
expands
[[Page H1526]]
upon existing progress on modernization within States and includes
tribal foster care systems.
This is a good bill. I thank Mr. Young and his staff for their
excellent work. I am indeed pleased to join them.
I urge support to move forward on H.R. 4472.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague, Mr.
Davis, and his staff for their hard work and his leadership on this
effort.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the State of
Indiana (Mrs. Walorski), who represents Notre Dame country. She is a
hardworking Member from my home State.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Modernizing the
Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act.
This bill will reduce the amount of time kids wait to be adopted,
placed with relatives, or placed with foster parents when they are
going to a home in another State.
The current paper-based process keeps children waiting while
caseworkers mail physical documents. This bill incentivizes States to
connect to an electronic system that has been pilot-tested in a handful
of States, including my home State of Indiana.
Getting at-risk kids into a stable, permanent environment as quickly
as possible is critical to allowing them to thrive and reach their full
potential. Each day they spend waiting for paperwork to be mailed back
and forth is time wasted unnecessarily.
I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Young of Indiana, for his
leadership on this issue. I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R.
4472 and do everything possible to get our most vulnerable children
placed in a safe environment.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, while we are discussing H.R. 4472, reducing the time
that it takes to process a child who might come from a different State
for adoption or foster care placement, there are other issues of child
welfare, one that I will mention.
The issues of child welfare have a long history of bipartisanship. In
addition to the Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in
Foster Care Act, I hope to engage my colleagues in addressing the
substance abuse needs of families involved in child welfare.
Aside from neglect, alcohol and other drug use is the number one
reason for removal from the home. More specifically, approximately one-
third of cases list alcohol or other drug use as the reason for the
child's removal.
What is exciting is that we have good, clear empirical evidence that
certain strategies have demonstrated effectiveness. Specifically, these
quality interventions help children and families affected by substance
abuse experience fewer days in care, higher reunification rates, less
recurrence of child maltreatment, and better permanency over time.
I am preparing to introduce a bill that scales up these successes
from smaller targeted interventions into full-scale interventions while
building the research to better inform Federal policy overall.
My bill does two key things. First, it dedicated staff under Title
IV-E for the coordination of substance abuse prevention and treatment
services with child welfare services.
Secondly, it creates grants to expand the lessons learned from the
research on smaller scale efforts to the State level, funding
additional research to improve related Federal policy.
My home State of Illinois has led the Nation in addressing substance
abuse issues in child welfare. We know that we need to do more to
address this problem. We know that it works. And, of course, I look
forward to being engaged in the development of programs and activities
that would further enhance that kind of success.
Again, I want to thank Mr. Young for his tremendous work on H.R.
4472.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Doggett). He is one of the outstanding members of the Ways and Means
Committee.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
I want to salute the gentleman and Mr. Young for their bipartisan
initiative here that would eliminate some of the current paperwork
barriers that are preventing abused and neglected children from being
quickly placed in safe, loving homes, which happen to be on the other
side of a State border. Their coming together in this bipartisan
initiative is constructive in helping some of the most vulnerable
children in America.
It is unacceptable for children who already face so many challenges
to have to deal with this additional hardship because the process, as
it exists now, just is not working.
Based on the experience we have had with those States that were
involved in a pilot program, we know that waiting times there were
reduced by almost one-third.
I think, with that experience, we can move forward under this bill
for an electronic information exchange that will work and will improve
the times that these young people face.
While this bipartisan step is a welcome one, it should also serve as
a reminder to us of all the work that remains.
Last week the National Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and
Neglect Fatalities, a commission that was created with legislation that
I authored back in 2012, issued its final report entitled ``Within Our
Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect
Fatalities.''
However you count them and however you may focus on the data needed
to adequately describe this problem, there are far too many children in
America today who do suffer, including many who actually are killed, by
abuse and neglect.
Our committee, much in the tradition of this piece of bipartisan
legislation, has addressed these issues on a bipartisan basis in the
past. I hope that we can do the same with the report of the Commission,
that we can move forward to consider some of its recommendations, like
its unanimous recommendations.
This was a bipartisan Commission appointed by President Obama and by
House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders. They came together
with unanimous recommendations on a number of pieces of legislation,
such as the importance of renewing the home visiting programs that go
out and work with young parents that strengthen families and help them
be the kind of parents they want to be.
We need an ongoing conversation here about foster care financing. The
reauthorization of programs like the Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Program is coming up this year, and the Home Visiting Program, fully
known as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting
Program, is up for renewal this next year.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an
additional 1 minute.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I hope we can find ways to work together to
advance what has been done here and to advance specific legislation
that will help reduce the number of children that suffer from abuse and
neglect.
I must note, though, that at the same time this legislation was
approved in our committee, under the Republican budget, the Social
Services Block Grant was terminated. I hope that is not done by the
Congress as a whole.
The Social Services Block Grant is a major source of funding for
prevention of child abuse and neglect today, used by State and local
governments to focus on prevention with far too little focus on
prevention overall.
One of the major conclusions of this Commission on Child Fatalities
is that we focus our attention so much on the end, after the abuse has
occurred, and not on the beginning, to try to prevent abuse. We need to
focus on prevention. So at the same time this bill was approved, that
support was cut.
Hopefully, Congress will reject the bill to eliminate the Social
Services Block Grant and we can come together to find more resources to
do what must be done to prevent us from just lurching from one tragedy
to another and help stabilize and support families working to see that
children are protected. I thank the gentlemen again for their effort.
[[Page H1527]]
{time} 1415
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
I want to associate my remarks with those just made by Mr. Doggett
relative to continuing the Social Services Block Grant funding, which
has provided a tremendous amount of resources, and continues to do so,
for social welfare programs, including those affecting children.
I also want to associate myself with the comments made relative to
the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. It just
happens that one of the judges from my district, the presiding judge of
the Child Protection Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County,
serves on that commission and, of course, had some findings that were
different than the commission report.
I think we need to consider all of those things as we move forward.
But I am pleased to note that we are indeed making progress dealing
with the issues of child welfare.
Again, I want to commend Mr. Young and his staff for their work on
H.R. 4472. I am pleased to join, and urge strong support for it.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
This bipartisan, bicameral bill was developed through a yearlong
process, consulting with key stakeholders to make sure that there would
be broad support. It involved a whole lot of painstaking work from
staff members on the committee, both Republican and Democrat, and from
Mr. Davis, who I commend once again for his leadership on this issue,
and his staff. And I want to thank all of the stakeholders involved.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from the
American Public Human Services Association, the Children's Home Society
of America, the Partnership for Strong Families, the Child Welfare
League of America, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and the
County Welfare Directors Association of California.
Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact
on the Placement of Children,
Washington, DC, February 4, 2016.
Re Support for H.R. 4472, ``Modernizing the Interstate
Placement of Children in Foster Care Act''.
Hon. Todd Young,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Danny Davis,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representatives Young and Davis: The American Public
Human Services Association (APHSA), and its affiliate, the
Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on
the Placement of Children (AAICPC), which represents state
executives responsible for overseeing the interstate
placement of children, would like to thank you for
introducing and co-sponsoring H.R. 4472, Modernizing the
Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act.
This legislation will facilitate state participation in the
National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE),
which is modernizing the now antiquated Interstate Compact on
the Placement of Children (ICPC) administrative process. The
bill complements our efforts to transform the ICPC by
promoting policy changes and providing funding so that states
may connect to the NEICE. Once fully operationalized, the
NEICE will also be a valuable tool for addressing societal
challenges that put children at risk, including the opiate
and heroin epidemic, illegal rehoming of children, and sex
trafficking.
Thank you again for introducing and co-sponsoring H.R.
4472, and for your steadfast leadership to improve the lives
of children waiting for safe, permanent families. We strongly
support your efforts to modernize the interstate placement of
children through this legislation, and intend to work
vigorously for its passage.
Sincerely yours,
Tracy Wareing Evans,
Executive Director, APHSA.
Mical Anne Peterson,
President, AAICPC.
____
Children's Home Society,
of America,
Chicago, IL, January 19, 2016.
Congressman Todd Young,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Young: Children's Home Society of America
(CHSA) is proud to support the efforts of Congressman Young
as he proposes to modernize and expedite the ability of
states to place children across state lines and into forever
homes.
The Modernizing and Interstate Placement of Children in
Foster Care Act will replace an antiquated paper based system
enabling not only greater efficiencies in the legal process
of placing children but also create greater transparency and
accountability in the overall process. By utilizing a
nationwide computer based system, states will actually save
money by reducing the administrative costs associated with
complying with the ICPC, expedite communication between
states and their placement systems and most importantly,
reduce the time that children spend in the foster care
system.
CHSA looks forward to supporting Congressman Young as he
understands that no child should have to wait to be placed in
a loving home simply because they must cross state lines.
Sincerely,
Sharon Osborne,
Board Chair,
Children's Home Society of America.
____
Strong
Families, Inc.,
Gainesville, FL, March 4, 2016.
Re Support for H.R. 4472, Modernizing the Interstate
Placement of Children in Foster Care Act.
Hon. Todd Young,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Danny Davis,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representatives Young and Davis: First, many thanks
for introducing and co-sponsoring H.R. 4472, Modernizing the
Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act. As the
Immediate Past President of the Association of Administrators
of Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, it
generates much excitement to see this legislation introduced.
In a past position, I was the ICPC Compact Administrator for
the State of Florida and had the opportunity to help develop
the prototype for the electronic transmission process now
realized through NEICE. It was our dream in Florida that one
day this system could become a national reality. Good or bad,
I must also confess that the acronym NEICE was my suggestion
so in a couple of ways I feel like a parent to NEICE.
There is no doubt in my mind that implementation of this
system in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands will change the lives of thousands of
children who await placement with relatives or adoption
finalization in another state. The additional uses for NEICE
are subject only to the minds of those who can identify other
possibilities such as combating human trafficking cases and
unregulated custody transfers (rehoming).
Thank you again for introducing and co-sponsoring H.R.
4472, and for your steadfast leadership to improve the lives
of children waiting for safe, permanent families. The child
welfare community strongly supports your efforts to modernize
the interstate placement of children through this
legislation, and intends to work vigorously for its passage.
Sincerely yours,
Stephen Pennypacker, Esq.,
President and CEO.
____
March 4, 2016.
Hon. Charles Grassley,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Todd Young,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Young and Senator Grassley: The Child
Welfare League of America offers its endorsement of your
legislation, H.R. 4472 and S. 2574, The Modernizing the
Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act.
We have long recognized the critical role that interstate
placement of children has played in the timely placement of
children in foster care and kinship care as well as its
importance in promoting adoptions. Over the years it has
become increasingly clear that these placements have been
delayed to the significant detriment of children in need of
permanence.
The recent efforts by the Department of Health and Human
Services through the National Electronic Interstate Compact
Enterprise or NEICE pilot project has demonstrated
significant speed up in these interstate placements with some
children seeing there wait times reduced by weeks and months.
In addition, the system has reduced cost and paper work. The
six pilot states that utilized NEICE demonstrated wait times
reduced by 30% with participating states savings of $1.6
million per year in reduced copying, mailing, and
administrative costs.
We solute your leaders on this legislation and are equally
pleased by the bipartisan spirit as represented by the
original co-sponsorship of Congressman Davis, Congresswoman
Brooks, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Franken and Senator
Peters.
Thank you for your work and advocacy on behalf of children.
Sincerely,
Christine James-Brown,
President/CEO, Child Welfare League
of America.
[[Page H1528]]
____
American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, American Academy
of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys,
Washington, DC, February 16, 2016.
Hon. Todd Young,
Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Young: I write as the President of the
American Academy of Adoption Attorneys to enthusiastically
endorse H.R. 4472 on behalf of our organization. H.R. 4472 is
a bill that provides swift stability and permanency to
vulnerable children who are being placed in foster/adoptive
homes or with guardians across state lines.
Drafted in 1960, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of
Children (``ICPC'') exists to ensure protection for children
in interstate placements. The ICPC requires every placement
to be scrutinized for legality and appropriateness. It
requires that children remain in the state of origin for
weeks, or even months, while the required paperwork is mailed
from the placing state ICPC's office to the new parent's home
state's ICPC office.
The ICPC is well meaning, but by its very nature, slows
down the process due to the paperwork and mailing burdens. A
uniform legal framework offers valuable protections, but such
protections must be weighed against the significant burden it
imposes on children and families. With the advances in
technology that have been used by other state and federal
agencies for over a decade, the process can be significantly
shortened and the most vulnerable members of our society can
be provided permanency in stable loving homes. The
centralized electronic system created by the passage of H.R.
4472 will be a victory for children, by expanding an
electronic pilot program to all state and U.S. territories.
The pilot program has been an unqualified success. Since
the pilot program was launched, the placement time for
children placed through those pilot states has been reduced
by 30 percent. Placement time has been reduced by 11 days. As
a truly centralized system evolves, the efficiencies should
be better and better.
The current slow ICPC process causes weeks, and sometimes
months, of children languishing in their states of original
residence. Social science and neuroscience research has
confirmed that children need stable families to thrive. The
paperwork barrier to quick foster/adoptive placements creates
unnecessarily delays. One month in the life of a child at
this vulnerable stage is an eternity. Further, the delay
caused by an outdated mailing system can result in
significant developmental issues and treatment costs. In many
instances, such treatment costs are incurred by local, state
and federal governments. Prospective parents willing to
provide homes to children in need of families have been
subjected to placement processes that are extraordinarily
difficult, risky, expensive and time consuming; often
requiring months of persistence and intervention by members
of Congress. Most significantly, the number of unparented
children able to find families has been severely limited
while the life potential of those fortunate enough to find
families through foster care, guardianship and adoption has
been impaired by weeks and months of needless delay.
Reform must begin with our government's acknowledgement
that every child has a fundamental human right to be raised
in a permanent loving family and that foster care,
guardianship and adoption are an important means for
providing such families to children living outside of
parental care. Additionally, by eliminating this unnecessary
delay, H.R. 4472 will reduce the treatment costs incurred by
local, state and federal governments.
We have come together as a community of child advocates to
identify a process that will reform interstate adoption. We
welcome the opportunity to discuss our request with you and
members of your staff. Please note, the changes we are
endorsing would have little budget impact. We look forward to
working with you in support of swift passage of this bill. To
simplify your communication with us, please feel free to
contact our Director of Adoption, Denise Bierly on behalf of
our group.
Sincerely,
Herb Brail,
President,
American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.
____
County Welfare
Directors Association,
Sacramento, CA.
Re Support for H.R. 4472, ``Modernizing the Interstate
Placement of Children in Foster Care Act''.
Hon. Todd Young,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Danny Davis,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representatives Young and Davis: The County Welfare
Directors Association (CWDA), representing the human services
directors in California's 58 counties, supports the
Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster
Care Act.
The bill will modernize the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of Children (ICPC) administrative process by
replacing it with a successfully tested web-based electronic
case processing system. The new National Electronic
Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE) will change policies
and provide funding to enable states and counties to connect
to the NEICE to exchange data and documents across state
jurisdictions so that our agencies may meet the unique needs
of foster care children who may reside in another state. The
proposed data exchange will enable state and counties more
efficiently meet federal mandates for the timely services,
placement and permanence of children in the foster care
system, and will improve outcomes for children in foster care
and their families.
Thank you again for introducing and co-sponsoring H.R.
4472. Please contact Tom Joseph, Director of CWDA's
Washington Office, should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Frank J. Mecca,
Executive Director.
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank those stakeholders
once again for all their help in getting this across the finish line.
I am hoping for broad and fulsome support from all Members of this
Chamber. I hope we can all agree here today that we should do
everything possible to get our most vulnerable children immediately
placed into the setting that is best for them, regardless of State
boundary lines.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Young) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 4472, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________