FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1025
September 8, 1998
No. HR-19
Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr., (R-FL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the implementation of legislation designed to decrease the length of time that minority children wait in foster care for adoptive families. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, September 15, 1998, in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include the Honorable Olivia A. Golden, Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and former Senator Howard Metzenbaum, as well as a representative of the U.S. General Accounting Office, legal scholars, researchers, adoption agency executives, and family recruitment specialists. Any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
Previous law permitted race or national origin to be considered as one of several factors when making a foster or adoptive placement for a child. The 1996 interethnic adoption amendments (sec. 1808 of P.L. 104-188) removed that option, making it clear that placement policies cannot consider race or national origin. The law now requires that children be placed immediately if a family is available. Specifically, the purpose of the amendments were to: (1) decrease the length of time that children wait to be adopted, (2) prevent discrimination in the placement of children on the basis of race, color, or national origin, and (3) facilitate identification and recruitment of foster and adoptive families that can meet children's needs.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Shaw stated: "Our Subcommittee wrote legislation more than two years ago that ended race matching policies in adoption that resulted in minority children remaining in foster care on average more than twice as long as other children. The goal was to make adoption easier for the hundreds of thousands of waiting children. It is time to examine the impact of this legislation on the children it was intended to help, and on the system it was intended to change."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The purpose of this hearing is to provide oversight on the implementation of the 1996 interethnic adoption amendments. In addition to examining the extent of official compliance with the law, such as State regulations, training, investigation, and imposition of penalties, the hearing will examine the placement procedures and practices used by local child protection offices.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, September 29, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Human Resources office, room B-317 Rayburn House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.