Children's Defense Fund Urges Federal Child Welfare Reforms

Children's Defense Fund Urges Federal Child Welfare Reforms

Contact: John Norton of the Children's Defense Fund, 202-662-3609

WASHINGTON, May 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Children's Defense Fund
(CDF), at the release of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster
Care's report, Fostering the Futu Safety, Permanence, and
Well-Being for Children in Foster Care, echoed the call for major
reforms in child welfare financing and the courts responsible for
protecting children and overseeing them in safe, permanent homes. The
Commission's report is being released in May, which is National Foster
Care Month-an important time to get more people involved on behalf of
children in foster care.

CDF views the Pew Commission's report as an important opportunity to
generate momentum for long overdue reforms at the federal level on
behalf of abused and neglected children. It helps move the national
discussion beyond the tragic stories of children abused in their homes
and in foster care to steps the federal government can take to help
improve children's lives. The report makes clear that no single
solution to the problems these children and families face is
sufficient-instead, change is needed in multiple areas and at the
federal, state, and local levels. Those changes must come in the form
of increased investments, increased flexibility, and in new ways of
doing business that build on the good work already going on in
selected states and communities around the country.

Twenty-five years ago CDF published Children Without Homes: An
Examination of Public Responsibility to Children in Out-of-Home Care,
another major report on child welfare. At that time, Marian Wright
Edelman, president and founder of CDF, described what CDF reported as
a national disgrace: "a pattern of institutional abuse and neglect of
our most vulnerable children that cannot wait one more day for
correction. The daily plight of these children, who are often left
family-less, makes a mockery of our professed belief in family, our
concern for our young, and for the cost- effective use of taxpayers'
money."

In commenting on the Pew Commission's report released today, Edelman
said, "The same urgency continues today. While there have been
important reforms since CDF issued its report in 1979, the intervening
25 years have produced many stark, new challenges. However, today
there is also greater appreciation of what the federal role must be if
we are to truly commit to keeping children safe and in permanent
families. There are leaders from both parties who have championed
child welfare reforms. Hopefully, the Pew Commission report ignites
the next critical round of legislative action. The time for action is
now, before we lose yet another generation of children."

A growing consensus exists around areas where federal reforms are
needed:

-- Increased capacity in prevention to allow children and families to
get the help they need well before they end up in out- of-home care.
Agencies have found new ways to engage families and communities early
and to partner with them to keep children safe.

-- Increased capacity for specialized treatment to address the
problems of substance abuse, mental health, and domestic violence that
too often bring families to the door of the child welfare system.
Forty to 80 percent of the children who come to child protection
agencies are from families with substance abuse problems, many of whom
could benefit from comprehensive family treatment. Others are in need
of mental health treatment or are from families where there is both
child abuse and domestic violence.

-- Expanded permanency options for children, including federal support
for children placed permanently with relatives who are their legal
guardians, and increased support for post-permanency services for
children who leave foster care and return home, are adopted, or live
permanently with kin.

-- Improvements in the quality of the workforce-those who work with
and care for abused and neglected children-to ensure that they have
better training, supervision, and more appropriate workloads that
allow for attention to the individual needs of children and families.
Foster and adoptive parents and kinship caregivers also need increased
support and training.

-- Enhanced accountability for the well-being of children that builds
on the federal reviews just completed in all the states. This means
providing increased resources to assist states as they implement the
program improvement plans they have developed to address barriers to
getting children the help they need. It also means requiring states to
give special attention to the children who remain in care the longest;
to give a voice to the concerns of children in the child welfare
system and those caring for them; and to examine the
over-representation of African American and American Indian children
in foster care and strategies to address it. The recommendations of
the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care address many of these
goals. The comprehensive Act to Leave No Child Behind, the Child
Protective Services Improvement Act, the Loan Forgiveness for Child
Welfare Workers Act and other bills pending in Congress make
additional policy changes, and more will be forthcoming. "Let's commit
now during National Foster Care Month to seriously examine all of
these critical recommendations and combine the best choices among them
to create a comprehensive approach for children that will help us to
truly Leave No Child Behind(r)," said Edelman.

At the same time, CDF urged president Bush to take steps this year to
secure increased investments in prevention and other family supports
for abused and neglected children. Four years ago, when running for
office, the President promised to seek guaranteed increased
investments in the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program of $200
million a year. Yet, nearly four years later after repeated calls for
increased funding, only half of the funds have been approved.

"There is still time for the President to make good on his promise,
and show what compassionate government is all about," said Edelman.
"His rhetoric needs to be matched by the reality of his actions,
otherwise, vulnerable children will continue to go unserved. The time
is now! Let's act so children will not continue to wait."
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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child
Behind(r) and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a
Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful
passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
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