[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12274]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 2188, THE KINSHIP CAREGIVER SUPPORT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2007

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, in the words of novelist, P.D. 
James, ``What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.'' Our 
children are entitled to stable, caring homes; if we deny them what 
they truly deserve, we can anticipate a colder, more uncertain future 
for our nation.
  This week marks the tenth anniversary of subsidized guardianship in 
Illinois, an innovative program that allows foster children to exit the 
child welfare system into permanent families while using federal funds 
to provide caregivers with the level of resources provided to adoptive 
families of children in foster care. To recognize this milestone, my 
colleague Tim Johnson and I introduced H.R. 2188, the Kinship Caregiver 
Support Act.
  Modeled after the adoption assistance program, innovative programs in 
Illinois, and recommendations from the Pew Commission on Children in 
Foster Care, this bill provides kinship caregivers with the necessary 
resources to address their children's needs. The bill addresses gaps in 
existing foster care laws that withhold important supports from 
children living with relative guardians.
  By enacting the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and the 
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, Congress recognized 
the need to align Federal incentives with the desired goal of providing 
abused and neglected children safe, permanent homes. Nearly half a 
million 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. Unfortunately, federal financial assistance 
currently is available only to foster and adoptive families, with only 
a few states receiving a waiver to provide subsidized guardianship. 
However, adoption is not a viable option for many children to exit 
foster care. For example, courts explicitly rule out this permanency 
option for approximately 20,000 children in relative care each year. 
Moreover, adoption is not equally availed by families of all races and 
ethnicities, especially those in African-American and Native-American 
communities. Thus, subsidized guardianship is an important path to 
permanency for many abused and neglected children.
  The current Federal guidelines also create financial disincentives to 
guardianship. Almost 19% of kinship care providers live in poverty, and 
30% to 40% of children in foster care have chronic medical problems. 
Subsidized guardianship, like the federal adoption assistance program, 
provides needed support to these kinship caregivers to afford 
appropriate care for these vulnerable children. Terminating support to 
families once guardianship is established presents overwhelming 
hardships for these children and families that discourage them from 
leaving foster care. The limited federal support for guardianship is a 
critical roadblock to permanency for thousands of children, resulting 
in their remaining in the foster care longer than necessary and 
possibly aging out of the system without a legal family of their own.
  With 10 years of experience under our belts, Illinois shows that 
subsidized guardianship works. Unfortunately, the subsidized 
guardianship waiver program expired in 2006. This means that no new 
states can benefit from the program, and, when the existing waivers for 
15 states--including 10 Illinois--expire in the next few years, our 
children and thousands of children others will be denied this vital 
permanency option if new subsidized guardianship legislation is not 
passed.
  So, the Kinship Caregiver Support Act allows states the option to 
provide guardianship assistance to relatives without a waiver. It also 
implements additional supports for kinship caregivers, such as 
establishing informational navigator programs to assist grandparents 
and relatives in accessing appropriate services and supports. Further, 
it allows states to establish separate licensing standards for relative 
foster parents and non-relative foster parents and requires state 
agencies to provide prompt notice to all adult relatives when children 
are removed from parental custody. The bill also extends innovative 
Illinois programs to the national level. For example, it expands 
eligibility for the Foster Care Independence Program so that education 
and training vouchers as well as independent living services are 
available to young people who exit foster care after age 14 to 
guardianship or adoption. It includes as eligible children who live in 
relative homes determined by the courts and State agency as meeting all 
applicable State safety standards other than licensure as well.
  Subsidized guardianship is a bipartisan issue. Indeed, our bill is a 
companion bill to that introduced in the other chamber by Senators 
Hillary Clinton and Olympia Snowe. Further, as you may recall, the 
reconciliation bill from the Republican-controlled 109th Congress would 
have extended authority for these waivers and removed the limit on the 
number of states eligible, providing further testament to the 
bipartisan nature of this issue.
  As Forest Witcraft said, ``A hundred years from now it will not 
matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the 
kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was 
important in the life of a child . . . .'' As policy makers, we have 
the ability and responsibility to make a difference in the lives of 
foster children. We must use that ability to make sure the downtrodden 
and neglected of today are the achievers and leaders of tomorrow. I 
encourage my colleagues to join me and Representative Johnson in 
supporting this critical bill.

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