Supporting America's Children and Families Act
Floor Speech
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Supporting America's Children and Families Act which now includes two bipartisan bills reported out of the Ways and Means Committee. The first bill would improve and invest in the child welfare services funded under title IV-B of the Social Security Act. The second bill would ensure that State and Tribal child support agencies can continue their work collecting child support obligations.
I thank Chairman LaHood and Chairman Smith for their hard work and willingness to work with all of us to reauthorize and improve title IV- B of the Social Security Act. I am delighted that today we advance this important bipartisan step forward for our most vulnerable children and families.
This bill would increase guaranteed funding for the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program for the first time since 2006, providing meaningful new resources to make sure that all children are in safe, loving, and permanent homes.
The bill includes good ideas from Members on both sides of the aisle and from the experts who work with us to prioritize child well-being in our work. Indeed, 228 national, State, and local organizations support this bill.
The bill provides modest but critical funding for services all along the child welfare continuum. In addition to providing essential new funding for both State and Tribal child welfare agencies to support families, this bill includes numerous, significant investments and policy updates that improve child safety and well-being.
For example, it invests in aiding kinship caregivers in finding needed resources and in evidence-based programs that successfully help parents overcome substance abuse disorders to safely care for their children.
It increases funding for Tribal child welfare programs while respecting Tribal sovereignty and monitoring State engagement with the Indian Child Welfare Act. It updates our policies to help ensure that parents and children have access to independent legal representation in child welfare court proceedings, a key factor to address racial disparities in child welfare.
This bill also provides for a new demonstration project to promote meaningful relationships between foster youth and their incarcerated parents. I have personally witnessed the power of these relationships to change lives for both children and parents, and I thank Chairman LaHood and my colleagues for working with me to help these families.
In addition, the bill amends section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code to bring parity to Tribal and State child support services agencies and to ensure that State agencies can continue their work.
I recognize the leadership of Representatives Gwen Moore, Suzan DelBene, and Kevin Hern on these provisions. I know that agencies across the country and in my home State of Illinois are eager for us to enact this provision quickly to resolve a longstanding discrepancy in interpretation about the use and definition of contractors assisting child support agencies. The bill strengthens the ability of State, Tribal, and local child support agencies to serve families.
Both the substance of this bill and the true collaboration in both policy areas, child welfare and child support, represent a great step forward.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support its passage, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Moore), one of the most serious antipoverty advocates that I know.
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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank Chairman Smith and Chairman LaHood for their partnership on this important bill that would improve and invest in child welfare services under title IV- B and ensure that State and Tribal support agencies can continue their work. I think all of our committee can be seriously proud of this bipartisan work. It has been a pleasure working with the chair and Mr. LaHood.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this very important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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