On October 5, the House approved, by voice vote, the Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act (H.R. 4504). The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources heard testimony on the bill on July 13 (see The Source, 7/16/04).
Sponsored by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), the measure would provide incentives for states to expedite the safe placement of foster and adoptive children across state lines. Specifically, the bill would authorize $10 million in FY2005 for grants to any state that has submitted a report to the Department of Health and Human Services showing that it has completed timely interstate home studies. Each state would receive $1,000 multiplied by the number of studies conducted in a fiscal year.
H.R. 4504 would require states to conduct background checks of prospective foster or adoptive parents, including any incidents of child abuse or neglect. The bill also would direct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on background checks related to foster or adoptive placement of children in state custody.
House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee Chair Wally Herger (R-CA) explained that the subcommittee “has conducted numerous hearings examining the Nation’s child protection system. We have heard testimony from more than 45 witnesses who all agree on one important point, our current system fails to protect children and, therefore, needs improvement. The legislation before us today is an important first step in our effort to ensure children are not needlessly lingering in foster care. This legislation would encourage States to expedite safe placement of foster and adoptive children into homes across State lines. Currently, these placements take an average of one year longer than placements within a single State, delaying permanency with loving families for thousands of children.”
Voicing his support for the legislation, Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD) stated, “When a child in foster care is waiting for a loving home, they should not have to wait an extra year to be placed in that home solely because it exists in another State. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happens in many cases today. The interstate placement of foster children is too often delayed by bureaucratic red tape, the lack of communication, differing standards among States, insufficient resources, and sometimes just plain indifference. The truth is that when one is dealing with an out-of-state placement, a particular State does not give it the same attention it does to a placement within its own State.” He added, “We have 500,000 children in foster care of which over 100,000 are ready for adoption. We need to remove barriers between these children and loving homes, and this bill takes a modest, but meaningful, step in that direction.”
