BILL REQ. #:  S-3852.1 

Read first time 01/16/08.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Every child needs to be protected from abuse and neglect and deserves to be reared in a loving, safe, stable environment with families that nurture, protect, and guide them; and
     WHEREAS, Foster care should be a temporary, short-term placement for children until they can achieve permanency through family reunification, adoption, or guardianship. However, the five hundred thirteen thousand children in foster care in the United States have been in foster care for an average of two years, five months, and the one hundred fourteen thousand children waiting to be adopted have been in foster care for an average of three years, six months -- while a record twenty-four thousand children aged out of the foster care system during the last year for which statistics are available without being placed with a loving, permanent family; and
     WHEREAS, The federal government shares the responsibility with states to protect children from abuse and neglect and to secure safe, permanent homes for them. However, the current federal financing structure for foster care encourages an over-reliance on placement and maintenance of children in foster care with insufficient resources for other services that keep families together or move such children quickly into a new adoptive family or guardianship when reunification is not possible; and
     WHEREAS, Sixty-one percent of all federal financing allocated to states for child welfare purposes is mandated according to Title IV-E of the social security act to be used for maintaining children in foster care, and for related administrative and training costs, thereby limiting states' resources for other important services, such as prevention and rehabilitation services, adoptive and foster parent recruitment, and postplacement services for adoptive and foster families; and
     WHEREAS, The current rigid federal financial structure for foster care harms children by causing them to be maintained in foster care, when greater flexibility would enable states to provide permanency for them more quickly through reunification, adoption, or guardianship; and
     WHEREAS, A recent survey shows that sixty-one percent of respondents agree that "federal policy should allow states the flexibility to spend more of their federal foster care dollars on adoptive and foster parent recruitment and on postplacement services for adoptive and foster families"; and
     WHEREAS, The same survey also shows that sixty-one percent of respondents agree that "federal policy should allow states the flexibility to spend more of their federal foster care dollars on prevention and rehabilitation services"; and
     WHEREAS, The federal government mandates that states protect all children from abuse and neglect and provide assistance for such children while they are in the care of the state, regardless of income. However, the federal government only provides assistance to states for children whose birthparents meet the 1996 income eligibility requirements for aid to families with dependent children; and
     WHEREAS, The outdated income eligibility requirements means five thousand one hundred fewer children are eligible for federal financial assistance each year, shifting the burden to the states and limiting states' resources for other important child welfare services; and
     WHEREAS, The same survey shows that sixty-five percent of respondents agree that "all children who are victims of abuse or neglect should be eligible for federal foster care funding, regardless of income." However, in 2004, only forty-seven percent of neglected and abused children in foster care were eligible to receive federal support, causing the states to miss out on an estimated one billion nine hundred million dollars in federal reimbursements for foster care support; and
     WHEREAS, The United States Congress plays a vital role and has a unique opportunity to reform the federal financial system for foster care giving states more flexibility to use their federal dollars towards other important services, such as prevention and rehabilitation services, adoptive and foster parent recruitment, and postplacement services for adoptive and foster families;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the United States Congress act quickly to reform the current federal financial structure for foster care, most particularly, Title IV-E of the social security act, to allow states the flexibility to use more of their federal financing for other effective child welfare services besides foster care maintenance; and to provide federal foster care funding for all children who are victims of neglect or abuse, regardless of income.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.