[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H4226-H4227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ACKNOWLEDGING CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM WORKERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Bass) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, May was National Foster Care Month, a time for 
our country to come together to acknowledge the half million people in 
our child welfare system, the hundreds of thousands who work within the 
system day in and day out, and the millions of adults who have exited 
the system and are no longer in care.
  No one knows the child welfare system like the foster youth who have 
grown up in the system. Today, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth 
and the National Foster Youth Institute have brought more than 100 
young people from every corner of the country here to Washington, D.C., 
to shadow their Member of Congress. I would like to take a second to 
thank the nearly 100 Members of Congress who are spending this morning 
learning from a constituent and delegate of this program about their 
personal experiences and ideas to make impactful change in the child 
welfare system.
  The delegates of this program have been in town since Saturday and 
have been learning about community activism and successful movement 
building. Yesterday, we held a forum right here in the Capitol where 
our delegates were able to ask Members of the leadership of Congress 
questions about changes to the child welfare system. I can't wait for 
the participants of this program to be up here serving in Congress, 
making their voices even louder than they are now.
  Each year, our participants have a real hand in making change. From 
the Chafee Grant extensions to the passage of the Family First 
Prevention Services Act just last year, this group's voices have 
changed our child welfare system forever.
  The reality is this: When the government removes children from their 
parents, the government becomes that child's parent. Too often, the 
government forgets this commitment and life goes on for those not in 
the child welfare system; but for those in it, they come to feel 
trapped and forgotten.
  These young people here today have traveled thousands of miles to 
share their stories of their challenges with abuse, trafficking, 
overmedication, or homelessness. In addition, they are sharing their 
successes with mentorship, adoption, family reunification, community 
activism, and independent living. Their goal is to leave Congress with 
a better understanding of the reality faced day in and day out by our 
Nation's youth in care.

  Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to share the stories of four former 
foster youth who are here shadowing me today.
  Yeshi Vaughan graduated in the top 10 of her high school class. In 
May 2019, she graduated with honors from Saint Martin's University with 
a bachelor's in social work and a minor in sociology. She hopes that as 
a social worker she can share her story to encourage other youth.
  Fonda Williams is a former foster youth from California, born and 
raised in the city of Watts. She is 27 years old and the sixth child of 
eight. Her current occupation is a public safety dispatcher. She 
attended UCLA and is currently attending El Camino College.
  Racquell Perry is a Florida barred attorney and is the statewide 
outreach for Keys to Independence at Educate Tomorrow. The Keys to 
Independence program is designed to help youth in out-of-home care 
overcome barriers to driving. Racquell is a proud two-time graduate of 
Florida A&M University, earning a bachelor's degree in criminal justice 
and a JD from its college of law.
  Toni Criner, while attending Howard University, had the opportunity 
to be an intern in my office, where she experienced child welfare and 
foster care policy issues from a different viewpoint. After Toni's time 
on the Hill, she went on to pioneer a White House initiative and was 
given the opportunity to work with Washington, D.C.'s most vulnerable 
transitioning-aged youth. In 2019, Toni founded her own company, T.C. 
Mentoring and Consulting LLC. The company's mission is to help at-risk 
youth and young adults find their path in life.
  Mr. Speaker, our country is the richest country in the history of the 
world, and there is no excuse for us not to take care of the half 
million youth who are in the child welfare system. When the government 
removes them, we are the ones responsible, and we should never be in a 
situation where anyone

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would accuse the government of abuse and neglect. This is why we need 
to transform the Nation's child welfare system to make sure that all of 
the children in our country have everything they need to be successful 
adults.

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