Opening Statement of the Hon. Wally Herger, M.C., California,
and Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on the Promoting Safe and Stables Families Program

May 10, 2001

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Subcommittee on Human Resources’ hearing on the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program.

The purpose of our hearing today is threefold. First, we will explore how States have used Safe and Stable Families funds, for example to help children at risk of abuse or neglect. Second, we will examine what services make the biggest difference for families at risk or involved with the foster care system. And third, we will consider what this all means as we head towards reauthorization later this year.

This Subcommittee played a key role in 1997 when, through the Adoption and Safe Families Act, we set the terms of the Safe and Stable Families program. That law sent a strong bipartisan message that children should not languish in foster care for so long that they have little hope of finding a permanent home. Since the Adoption and Safe Families Act was enacted, adoptions are up from 28,000 in 1996 to 48,000 in 1999, and child maltreatment is down nearly 7%; so it appears we’re heading in the right direction. I’d like to thank Mr. Camp especially for his continuing service on behalf of children in foster care.

We are pleased to have a number of extremely able witnesses with us today who know what happens when Federal dollars leave Washington and reach families in crisis. But in addition to our review of funding and services, I hope we will also focus on what this means for children.

Consider the story of an infant whom I’ll call Trina. Trina was the fifth of six children born to a mother addicted to crack cocaine. Trina’s mother made her living on the streets. When Trina was born, her older brothers and sisters were already in foster care, after being found in a filthy, unattended apartment with no food, a butcher’s knife on the floor, and no toilet paper or diapers in the house. But their mother insisted she would be back on her feet soon, she just needed some time. So Trina’s older siblings remained in foster care for more than 6 years.

Trina, however, has been adopted by a loving family. In contrast, two of her older siblings, after bouncing around the system, will age out of foster care without ever experiencing the safety and stability of a safe and permanent home.

It’s hard to imagine all the ways Trina’s life and prospects will be improved by living in a permanent, loving home. Now imagine the heartache and hurdles her older siblings, without that simple advantage, will have to overcome. We surely don’t want to give up on any parent, but with the clock ticking on childhood, time is critical and must not be wasted. So we will be very interested in whether children at risk are benefiting from recent changes, and what more can be done to help them.