[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10798]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

  (At the request of Mr. Daschle, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

                       NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

 Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor children 
across the Nation who live in foster care and the admirable adults who 
protect and care for them. Currently, there are over half a million 
children in foster care in the United States--a number that has doubled 
since 1987. Coming from every socioeconomic background, these innocent 
children cannot live at home due to troubling family situations. 
Luckily, 170,000 foster families have opened their hearts and homes to 
these disadvantaged children.
  Children enter foster care for a number of reasons. For some 
children, the journey begins at birth. Other children come to the 
attention of child welfare when a teacher, a social worker, a police 
officer, or a neighbor reports suspected child maltreatment. Often, 
these children have experienced physical or sexual abuse at the hands 
of a loved and trusted adult or have been woefully neglected by their 
caregivers. On average, children stay in foster care for 33 months.
  Foster parents meet a special need in our society by ensuring that 
foster children receive attention, love, and health and educational 
services. In doing so, they help to restore a sense of hope and 
stability in the lives of our country's youth.
  In my home State of Illinois, we are doing our part to recognize the 
selfless contributions made by foster parents. On April 26, Governor 
Rod Blagojevich proclaimed May 2004 ``Foster Parent Appreciation 
Month.'' The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is the 
Nation's largest child welfare agency accredited by the Council on 
Accreditation for Children and Family Services.
  Illinois DCFS is working to reduce the number of children who require 
foster care. Through a program called Front End Redesign, early 
intervention services are provided to families after their needs become 
apparent to prevent the need for a child to be placed in foster care. 
For four consecutive years, Illinois has been a national leader in 
adoptions. With an increasing emphasis on early intervention and 
adoption, the number of Illinois children in foster care has declined 
from 51,331 children in 1997 to 19,297 children in 2004.
  We still have a great demand--not only in Illinois but in States 
across the Nation--for additional caring adults to open their homes to 
foster children. Teenagers, adolescent moms and their babies, children 
with special needs, and sibling groups are some of the children most in 
need of foster and adoptive parents.
  All children can reach their greatest potential when they live in 
safe, stable, and nurturing families. Yet far too many children lack 
this fundamental foundation. Foster parents, as well as the 
professionals and volunteers working within state child welfare 
programs, deserve our gratitude and respect for the sacrifices they 
make every day to ensure that our children--our Nation's future--
receive the support they need as they mature into adulthood.

                          ____________________