Volume 3

Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care: Statement to the House Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means

Washington, D.C. – Carol Emig, Executive Director of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care submitted the following statement to the House Subcommittee on Human Resources for today's hearing on foster care financing:

The nonpartisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care was launched on May 7, 2003 under the leadership of former Congressmen Bill Frenzel and Bill Gray. This expert panel of experienced legislators, child welfare administrators and providers, judges, parents, and youth is committed to improving outcomes for some of the nation's most vulnerable children by developing practical, bipartisan recommendations related to federal financing and court oversight of child welfare. It will report those recommendations in 2004.

For the purposes of this hearing, this statement primarily addresses the Commission's work on federal financing. It is important to note, however, that court practices are also an integral part of our work.

The Commission shares Congress' desire to protect children who have experienced abuse and neglect and provide them with the safe and permanent homes that all children deserve. While changes in financing won't solve every problem in child welfare, thoughtful change could enable every state and community to do a better job of supporting the healthy development of these very vulnerable children.

The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care is committed to developing – quickly – a set of practical, evidence-based recommendations. Our work has been greeted with interest and excitement across the policy and political spectrum.

This enthusiasm reflects consensus in the policy and practice communities that the current financing structure does not effectively promote the Adoption and Safe Families Act's (AFSA's) goals of safety, permanence, and well-being for children, as well as widespread interest in the development of thoughtful, new recommendations for reform. The Commission will therefore carefully examine a broad array of financing options to develop recommendations that will promote good outcomes for children. In doing so, we intend to learn from information that is just now emerging from states and communities that have experimented with different financing structures, including those with federal waivers. States and communities clearly differ in their circumstances and approaches, and the Commission's recommendations will take these differences into account. We welcome input and suggestions and will be posting information for submitting ideas to the Commission on our web site shortly.

Every member of the Pew Commission is committed to developing recommendations that have a strong likelihood of adoption. We share Congress' frustration over the current child welfare system and its urgency to do a better job for children and families. We also know that progress in this arena occurs only when there is strong bipartisan agreement. That is the experience of ASFA and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Act. Our goal, therefore, is to develop practical, evidence-based recommendations that will earn broad, bipartisan support among policy makers and will improve outcomes for children.

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About the Commission

The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care will focus its recommendations in two targeted areas:

• Improving existing federal financing mechanisms to facilitate faster movement of children from foster care into safe, permanent families and to reduce the need to place children in foster care.
• Improving court oversight of child welfare cases to facilitate better and more timely decisions affecting children's safety, permanence, and well-being.

Timeline and Process. The Commission will report recommendations by summer 2004 - sooner, if possible. The Commission held its first meeting in May 2003. It will meet again in September and November 2003, and as often as necessary in the first several months of 2004.

In light of this short timeline, we will request that interested parties submit suggestions or ideas this summer for consideration by the Commission. Guidelines for these submissions will be posted on the Commission's website, www.pewfostercare.org.

The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care is committed to developing recommendations that will earn the support of Congress, federal agencies, states, communities, and courts. The Commission will therefore consult closely with representatives of the Administration, members of Congress, the Governors, state legislators, the major judicial associations, state and local child welfare directors, and major professional associations. These contacts are already underway.

Funding for the Commission. The Commission is supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute.