H.R. 6307, Supporting The "Fostering Connection To Success Act"

Floor Speech

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, the House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 6307, the Fostering Connections to Success Act, sponsored by Representatives JIM MCDERMOTT and JERRY WELLER. This bill is a strong first step in reforming the foster care system, and it includes provisions supporting kinship caregivers that I have championed for years. Specifically, the bill includes the 3 core elements of my bill, H.R. 2188, the Kinship Caregiver Support Act, which I introduced with Representative TIM JOHNSON: (1) it allows states to use Federal funds to support family caregivers raising relatives in the foster care system; (2) it provides funding to establish kinship navigator programs; and (3) it requires notification of relatives when a child enters the foster care system.

These provisions are critical to supporting our children and youth. Nationwide, almost 19 percent of kinship care providers live in poverty, and 30 percent to 40 percent of children in foster care have chronic medical problems. Subsidized guardianship, like the Federal adoption assistance program, provides needed support to these kinship caregivers to afford appropriate care for these vulnerable children.

Further, kinship navigator programs serve as critical supports to the millions of grandparent caregivers who preventively took on the care of their grandchildren to keep them out of the foster care system. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 2.1 million children living with grandparents or other relatives with no parent present; however, only about 145,000 children in the foster care system live with kinship caregivers. This means that just under 2 million children are being cared for outside of the system and do not have access to subsidized guardianship payments. We must promote kinship navigator programs to help these caregivers understand and access supports to support our youngest citizens.

Research clearly shows that kinship foster care families are safer, more stable placements that are more likely to keep children connected with their siblings and communities than non-relative placements. Further, these placements are cost effective. In Illinois, cost studies found a projected savings of approximately $48 million over 10 years compared to a matched control group that did not have this option. For these reasons, it is imperative that we promote kinship caregiving within the foster care system, and required notification to relatives is an important step to this end.

The issue of grandparents raising grandchildren is very significant for Illinois and for Chicago specifically. My Congressional District has the highest percentage of children living with kinship caregivers in the U.S., with two other Chicago districts following closely behind. The legislation promises critical financial support to family members raising relatives in foster care. We have more to do, but I applaud the House of Representatives for passing this bill that will do so much for so many.

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