Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement Act

Floor Speech

I am pleased to join with Representative Barletta to introduce this important bill to help the most vulnerable victims of the opioid epidemic.

In every corner of our country, the opioid crisis is having a devastating effect. In Massachusetts, last year 1,379 people succumbed to fatal overdoses. Nationwide, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death and we lose 129 people a day to fatal drug overdoses. This epidemic doesn't see race, gender, income, or political ideology and does not spare newborns and infants.

We know that every 25 minutes a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal symptoms. This is a condition known as neonatal abstinence syndrome. While there is no silver bullet to address this crisis in our country, this bill takes important steps to help.

This bill, the Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement Act, strengthens and updates the care plans required by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974, also known as CAPTA.

CAPTA itself is up for reauthorization. This is just one portion of that important legislation where timely reauthorization will protect children in many different and difficult situations.

This legislation will help infants by ensuring that States have access to the best practices for establishing safe care plans for newborns with prenatal substance exposure.

It will also improve accountability by collecting data on the incidence of babies born exposed to drugs and the care that is provided to them and their families.

Perhaps most importantly, it will prevent tragedies by ensuring that babies and their moms and their families have the supports they need to be healthy and to build a future. We know that children have the best opportunity to thrive when their parents and caregivers are at the center of care.

I am grateful to the partnership with Representative Barletta and glad that we are taking this important step with this bill to ensure that the whole family is healthy and successful and supported.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) for his leadership on this issue and so many involving the welfare and health of our children.

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Again, many thanks to the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his partnership and his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I am particularly proud that this legislation takes a comprehensive look at not only protecting our newborns and infants but at putting the supports in place to ensure that their mothers and fathers and grandparents and families have the services they need and deserve to have the best outcomes for these babies and children and their family units. I am very pleased that this bill is before us today, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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