[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4955-H4958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REDUCING UNNECESSARY BARRIERS FOR RELATIVE FOSTER PARENTS ACT
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and pass the bill (H.R. 2866) to review and improve licensing standards
for placement in a relative foster family home, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2866
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 ``Reducing Unnecessary
Barriers for Relative Foster Parents Act''.
SEC. 2. REVIEWING AND IMPROVING LICENSING STANDARDS FOR
PLACEMENT IN A RELATIVE FOSTER FAMILY HOME.
(a) Identification of Reputable Model Licensing
Standards.--Not later than October 1, 2018, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services shall identify reputable model
licensing standards with respect to the licensing of foster
family homes (as defined in section 472(c)(1) of the Social
Security Act).
(b) State Plan Requirement.--Section 422(b) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (18), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (19), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(20) provide that, not later than April 1, 2019, the
State shall submit to the Secretary information addressing--
``(A) whether the State licensing standards are in accord
with model standards identified by the Secretary, and if not,
the reason for the specific deviation and a description as to
why having a standard that is reasonably in accord with the
corresponding national model standards is not appropriate for
the State;
``(B) whether the State has elected to waive standards
established in 471(a)(10)(A) for relative foster family homes
(pursuant to waiver authority provided by 471(a)(10)(D)), a
description of which standards the State most commonly
waives, and if the State has not elected to waive the
standards, the reason for not waiving these standards;
``(C) if the State has elected to waive standards specified
in subparagraph (B), how caseworkers are trained to use the
waiver authority and whether the State has developed a
process or provided tools to assist caseworkers in waiving
nonsafety standards per the authority provided in
471(a)(10)(D) to quickly place children with relatives; and
``(D) a description of the steps the State is taking to
improve caseworker training or the process, if any.''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) Effective Date.--Subject to subsection (b), the
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of
enactment of this Act.
(b) Transition Rule.--
(1) In general.--In the case of a State plan under part E
of title IV of the Social Security Act which the Secretary of
Health and Human Services determines requires State
legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) in
order for the plan to meet the additional requirements
imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the State plan
shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the
requirements of such part solely on the basis of the failure
of the plan to meet such additional requirements before the
first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the
close of the first regular session of the State legislature
that begins after the date of enactment of this Act. For
purposes of the previous sentence, in the case of a State
that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the
session shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of
the State legislature.
(2) Application to programs operated by indian tribal
organizations.--In the case of an Indian tribe, tribal
organization, or tribal consortium which the Secretary of
Health and Human Services determines requires time to take
action necessary to comply with the additional requirements
imposed by the amendments made by this Act (whether the
tribe, organization, or tribal consortium has a plan under
section 479B of the Social Security Act or a cooperative
agreement or contract entered into with a State), the
Secretary shall provide the tribe, organization, or tribal
consortium with such additional time as the Secretary
determines is necessary for the tribe, organization, or
tribal consortium to take the action to comply with the
additional requirements before being regarded as failing to
comply with the requirements.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K.
Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
General Leave
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and
extent their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2866,
currently under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on H.R. 2866, the
Reducing Unnecessary Barriers for Relative Foster Parents Act,
introduced by my friend from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker).
Introducing this legislation, Congressman Smucker was joined by our
Ways and Means colleague, Congresswoman Terri Sewell from across the
aisle. The bill has strong bipartisan support, including mine. I am a
cosponsor. And the Child Welfare League of America has strongly
endorsed this legislation.
So what does this bill do? Well, in short, the bill will reduce the
bureaucratic process for placing children in foster care with
relatives, when possible, and is in the best interest of the child.
Now, this just makes common sense. Last year alone, there were almost
a half million children in foster care, more than 16,000 children in my
home State of Pennsylvania alone. Now, there are countless family
members of these foster children who are not only willing, but they are
ready to have these children placed in their homes when one of their
relatives can't take care of them.
As a matter of good public policy, we should be making the placement
process much easier for family members, not more difficult, because it
is often in the best interest of the child.
Studies show that placing foster children with relatives solves many
of the problems children face when being placed into foster care;
moreover, it improves the outcomes for these children. Children are
more likely to succeed when they can stay with a family member of their
own and someone they are already familiar with and know. Children
placed with relatives tend to spend less time in foster care and also
experience much more stability.
The problem is that, while current law allows States to waive certain
licensing standards when placing children with relatives, many States
have been slow to implement the law. One of the purported reasons is
that caseworkers are slow or they simply don't know how to place
children with relatives because of a lack of training on their part.
Today, caseworkers may not be adequately trained regarding their
ability to waive certain standards when licensing relatives. This has
resulted in delays in placing children with relatives.
And when these children are already facing a tremendous amount of
turmoil and uncertainty in their lives, we shouldn't be tying them up
in bureaucratic red tape. We need to do more to place these children
with a loving family member whenever possible.
Now, how do we do that? Well, Representative Smucker's bill, H.R.
2866, will help remedy this problem by making our foster care system
more family
[[Page H4956]]
friendly, by ensuring States take proactive steps to speed up the
licensing process for relatives.
Specifically, the bill would require Health and Human Services to
identify reputable model standards for licensing foster family homes by
October 1, 2018. States, subsequently, would need to do their part by
submitting their plans to be in compliance with model standards for
family foster care placement. Additionally, States would need to
explain how caseworkers in their respective States are being trained.
This commonsense bill is at absolutely no cost to taxpayers, but it
would pay tremendous dividends for our Nation's children. Every child
deserves to be raised in a loving home. The Smucker-Sewell bill will
ensure that many more children can live safely and happily with loving
family members when they cannot stay in their own home with their
nuclear family.
I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important
legislation. Passing this legislation is the very least we can do for
these children.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she
may consume to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for the
purpose of a colloquy.
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Davis for
yielding me the time.
At this time, I would like to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).
As we have discussed, H.R. 2866 requires HHS to identify reputable
model licensing standards so that States can determine whether their
current requirements are in accord.
Is it your expectation that the National Association for Regulatory
Administration's Model Family Foster Home Licensing Standards would be
the kind of standards envisioned by the bill?
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding.
My feeling is the National Association for Regulatory
Administration's Model Foster Home Licensing Standards would be a prime
example of what HHS should consider.
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Pennsylvania for that response.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), the sponsor of this
important legislation, from my home State and a key member of the
Keystone Coalition.
Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of and to ask my
colleagues' support for H.R. 2866, the Reducing Unnecessary Barriers
for Relative Foster Parents Act.
I would like to first thank my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania
for his leadership and sponsorship of this bill. I would like to thank
the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Representative Brady, and
members of the Ways and Means Committee for bringing this bill to the
floor, and I would like to thank my cointroducer of the bill,
Representative Sewell from Alabama, as well, for the work that she has
done in regards to foster care issues over the years.
Every child, Mr. Speaker, deserves a loving home; but when a child's
home is no longer safe, often because of abuse, neglect, or behavioral
issues, children are placed in foster homes. In fact, in 2015, more
than 670,000 American children--16,000 in Pennsylvania, the State,
including in my district, more than 16,000 there have spent time in
foster care.
Countless families across the country are willing and eager to accept
foster children into their homes, and research shows that placement
with relatives is better for the child. Therefore, Federal policy
should make it easier for foster children to be placed with family
members.
Our bill is being considered today on the floor, and again, I ask for
my colleagues' support. When it comes to finding loving homes for
children, this is a bipartisan issue. There are no Republicans or
Democrats, just mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, and sons and
daughters who believe each child should have a bed to be tucked into at
night in a loving home.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to also note that the following
organizations have expressed support for H.R. 2866: the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the American Congress of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, Child Welfare League of America, First Focus, March of
Dimes, and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
Again, I would like to thank Representative Sewell from Alabama for
her work on foster care issues and for her leadership on this bill. We
really appreciate her work.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
I strongly support H.R. 2866, the Reducing Unnecessary Barriers for
Relative Foster Parents Act.
This important bill helps relative caregivers by requiring States to
examine whether their licensing standards align with the best practices
in licensing family foster homes. In so doing, H.R. 2866 requires
States to set reasonable requirements for family homes, standards that
consider community norms and cultural differences and standards that
remove artificial barriers to family care.
I have advocated these provisions within my own bill to improve
support for kinship caregivers, and I am proud to support Congresswoman
Sewell and Congressman Smucker's bill.
More than 25 percent of children in care live with a grandparent or
other relative. My congressional district has the highest percentage of
children living with grandparent caregivers in the Nation, followed
closely by two other congressional districts in Illinois.
In Illinois, 37 percent of all children placed in out-of-home care
are placed with relatives; however, less than half of these children
are placed with relatives in homes that are licensed.
The vast majority of relative caregivers are not able to become
licensed caregivers because the standards do not make sense with their
circumstances, such as requiring a grandmother in an expensive city
like Chicago to have one bedroom for each of her three grandbabies or
requiring her to take dozens of hours of parent training each year.
In 2008, I worked with Congressman Jerry Weller from Illinois to
allow States the ability to waive nonsafety licensing standards on a
case-by-case basis to help kinship caregivers via the Fostering
Connections Act. Unfortunately, many States chose not to exercise this
waiver authority to assist kin caregivers.
For example, in 2011, although Illinois had more than 3,600
nonlicensed relatives caring for youth, only 72 licensing waivers for
relatives were approved. Less than 2 percent received waivers.
H.R. 2866 requires States to modernize their licensing standards to
align with the best practices in licensing. This is a commonsense and
important change.
{time} 1615
Further, this bill advances our goal of ensuring that States follow
the waivers to meet the best interests of the children. To understand
the use of waivers, Children's Bureau should collect data on State's
granting waivers for nonsafety licensing standards for relatives,
including the number of relatives applying for waivers, the number of
waivers issued or denied, and the reason for denial.
I strongly support H.R. 2866, the Reducing Unnecessary Barriers for
Relative Foster Parents Act and urge my colleagues to support it.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) who is a sponsor of this bill.
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Davis for
yielding me the time.
H.R. 2866, the Reducing Unnecessary Barriers for Relative Foster
Parents Act, is a commonsense piece of legislation that has strong
bipartisan support right here in the House. I want to especially thank
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker) who is joining me in
introducing this bill. I want to
[[Page H4957]]
thank him for his leadership on foster care and foster youth and again
say thank you for looking for what is in the best interests of the most
vulnerable children in our society.
H.R. 2866 has been supported by not only bipartisan support here in
the House but has the support of many foster care advocacy groups,
including Generations United, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the
American Academy of Pediatrics.
Mr. Speaker, we need to do everything in our power to make the foster
care system family friendly, and H.R. 2866 takes an important step in
that direction. By motivating States to update the foster care
licensing regulations, we can reduce red tape and make it easier for
family members to become foster parents.
Research conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services,
academics, and advocacy groups all show that children experience better
outcomes when they are in the care of family members compared to
children in nonrelative care.
When kids are placed with a relative like a grandparent, they
experience fewer school changes, are less likely to reenter the foster
care system, and are more likely to be adopted. Moreover, data shows
that foster youth experience better behavioral and mental health
outcomes, are more likely to report that they ``feel loved,'' and are
more likely to stay connected with their communities.
I want to again thank Representative Smucker from Pennsylvania for
his leadership and sponsorship of this bill with me, as well as my
Democrat and Republican colleagues on the House Ways and Means
Committee for unanimously supporting this legislation.
I am encouraged to see that this body values our foster youth, and I
hope we can continue to keep up the spirit of bipartisanship.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense
legislation.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass).
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2866, and I want to
congratulate my good friends, Representatives Sewell, Kelly, and
Smucker for this legislation to reduce barriers for relative
caregivers.
Ironically, in the 1990s, when the crack cocaine epidemic hit, that
was the first time that women started using drugs equal to men. It
hadn't happened before, and so families fell apart. One of the things
that happened, in the early 1990s, was in the middle of the night a
grandmother might be called and three grandchildren delivered to her by
Children's Protective Services. The grandmother would take the children
without any support and without any knowledge of how to deal with the
trauma that the children faced.
During those years, we actually discriminated against relatives. We
said very negative things about them such as: the apple doesn't fall
far from the tree; and, if your daughter wound up on drugs, why should
we give the children to you?
So during those years, we would rather pay a stranger--and there can
be wonderful foster parents--but a stranger to take care of children
instead of families.
One of the things we did in Los Angeles was we organized the
grandmothers, and we trained them how to go before the board of
supervisors and advocate on their own behalf. That happened all around
the country. So there really was a movement of relatives who rose up
and said: We want our children; we just need help. We might be on a
fixed income, and we can't really support the children.
It is actually more expensive to put a child in foster care. So there
began a national movement for relative caregivers to fighting for their
rights and for services. So over the years, we really evolved to the
point where we have legislation like this where we recognize the
benefit of having relatives take care of children.
Ironically, the last piece of legislation we were talking about was
about children aging out of the system. Before we prioritized
relatives, what would happen is a young child who was aging out of
foster care, we would put them on the street, and the first thing they
would do would be to go look for their families because they might have
family somewhere, and they would often do that.
This legislation, I think, is extremely important to allow
flexibility for licensing of relative caregivers. Examples of
grandmothers who I worked with directly who wanted to take in their
grandchildren but they were told they didn't have enough bedrooms in
their house, and so we were going to put the children in more expensive
foster care and break them up and send them to different foster homes
instead of leaving them with the grandmother or assist her in moving.
So legislation like H.R. 2866, I believe, will begin to address some
of these challenges and do what every child needs, which is to be in a
loving home with family.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the
balance of my time.
H.R. 2866 is important because it supports kinship caregivers.
Research shows that children placed in kinship care are safer, more
stable placements and are more likely to be connected with their
siblings and community than children placed in nonrelative placements.
In addition to these positive outcomes for children in relative care,
research shows that kinship care placements are more cost effective. In
Illinois, cost studies estimated an average of $4,778 in savings of
title IV-E administrative expenses over an 8-year period compared to a
match control group that did not have this option.
More than 400,000 children make up our Nation's foster care
population with more than one in four of these vulnerable children
living with a grandparent or other relative. We should do as much as we
can to strengthen these families and children. H.R. 2866 takes an
important step forward.
Mr. Speaker, I have two facilities in my congressional district that
have outstanding programs. They are 45-unit buildings that have been
constructed for grandparents raising grandchildren. One is operated by
the Sankofa Safe Child Initiative, the other by the Coppin AME Church
Community Development Agency. Both of these are tremendous examples of
what can happen when children have the opportunity to be nurtured by
grandparents.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation. I urge its passage,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a minute because I think today is
one of those days where the American people look to the people's House
and say: Isn't it something that they can actually agree? Isn't it
something that they actually think with their hearts? Isn't it actually
something that they can come together on an issue that is so basic, so
simple, and so easy to understand?
We are talking about our most precious asset and the country's best
hope for the future: our children.
As I heard Ms. Sewell talk and Ms. Bass talk, I know in their hearts
how they feel about this. I know this is not something they just
thought about today or this week or thought this would be a good piece
of legislation; they think it is good because it is good for American
people.
Mr. Smucker joined with Ms. Sewell to have this legislation come
forward. It is a breath of fresh air for the people's House. This is
legislation that protects children, legislation that puts children with
their families in case they can't be taken care of in their own homes,
and it is an incredible effort by both sides.
I want to tell you what a great privilege it is to serve with you
today and to be on the floor with you. Mr. Davis is eloquent. Ms. Bass,
Ms. Sewell, and Mr. Smucker of Pennsylvania are good friends of mine.
So it is good to be here today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2866, as amended.
[[Page H4958]]
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________