DeWine, Rockefeller Bill Would Strengthen Family Courts, Child Welfare System

DEWINE, ROCKEFELLER BILL WOULD STRENGTHEN FAMILY COURTS, CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM

U.S. Senators Mike DeWine (R-OH) and John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) late yesterday introduced a bill, WE CARE Kids: Working to Enhance for At-Risk and Endangered Kids Act of 2005, which would help the lives of at-risk children living in foster care.

Last year, the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care released their recommendations to improve the nation's foster care system. The Commission recommended ways to strengthen the courts in the child welfare system, which would help vulnerable children in the foster care system get better service and support from the courts.

The WE CARE KIDS Act incorporates many of the Pew Commission's recommendations. Among other provisions, the legislations would provide $10 million in grants for training of judges and court personnel. It also provides $10 million for grants to the highest state court for the development and implementation of outcome measures related to safety, permanency, due process, and timeliness of court proceedings. The bill requires states to develop standards of practice in family, domestic, and juvenile courts and for social workers who work within the child welfare system. The bill increases funding for the expansion of the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, and it includes a provision that would ease the placement of children in foster care from one state to another, for the purposes of speeding adoptions out of the foster care system.

"By enacting the Pew Center's recommendations, we are improving our effort to ensure every child has the opportunity to live in a safe, stable, loving and permanent home." said Senator DeWine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "It is essential to have an efficiently operating court system -- a system that puts the principles embodied in the law into practice. This would help the court system do just that."

"This legislation, which is based on recommendations by the bipartisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, would promote coordination and collaboration between state agencies and the courts to improve the handling of cases for our most vulnerable children. In West Virginia, we have 80 children waiting for adoption, and nationwide, we have more than 100,000 waiting for adoption. These children deserve our attention and compassion, and we should act swiftly to give them the life they deserve," said Senator Rockefeller.

"While the Adoption and Safe Families Act was a good start to ensuring that all children grow up in safe and stable homes, the WE CARE Kids Act will further this goal while pursuing an efficient and reliable child welfare system," added Senator DeWine.

Senator DeWine is a long-time advocate of all children having the ability to live in a safe and stable home. Senator DeWine included language in the Adoption and Safe Families Act that ensures that a foster child's health and safety must be the paramount concern when deciding where a foster child should live.

Senator Rockefeller has led the charge to promote adoptions and improve services to children at risk of abuse and neglect. In 1993, Senator Rockefeller helped created the Safe and Stable Families Act in 1993. Four years later, the program was expanded to include adoption and reunification services as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act.

http://dewine.senate.gov/