Hearing Statement: Subcommittee on the District of Columbia Appropriations -Review of the Federal Foster Care Initiatives in the District of Columbia

HEARING STATEMENT: SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS -- REVIEW OF THE FEDERAL FOSTER CARE INITIATIVES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Good morning. This hearing will come to order. Today the subcommittee will focus on the progress that the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) has made in protecting the lives of the children in the District of Columbia's foster care system.

The simple fact is that every child in foster care --whether it is a child here in the District, or in Cincinnati, or in New Orleans, or anywhere else in America -- deserves to live in a safe, stable, loving, and permanent home, with loving and caring adults. All children deserve that. Unfortunately, too many children are not getting what they deserve.

Over 10 years ago, the District's child welfare system was considered among the worst in our Nation. In 1989, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit -- LaShawn A. v. Barry -- against the City, arguing that the District was failing to protect neglected and abused children. In 1991, the case went to trial, where the court ultimately found the District liable. Following this decision, the parties involved in the case developed a remedial action plan. The court used this plan as the basis for its modified final order, which required the District to correct the vast deficiencies in its child welfare system.

By 1995, however, little had changed, prompting U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan to install a receiver to oversee the system and appoint a Court Monitor to review the District's performance. On June 15, 2001, the Receivership ended and responsibility was transferred to a newly-established Cabinet-level Child and Family Services Agency. The Order terminating the Receivership created a probationary period that would end when the District demonstrated progress on a series of performance indicators.

Two years ago, this subcommittee held a series of hearings to shed light on the many and varied problems with the District's foster care system and to explore ways that the Federal government -- through funding provided by this subcommittee -- could improve the failed system. Through our hearings and reviews, we found that there were several critical needs that, if addressed, could go a long way toward improving the lives of thousands of children in the DC foster care system and help expedite their placements in stable, loving homes. To that end, we have provided nearly $20 million over the past two years to address those needs, which include:

1. Intensive early intervention. This means that when a child comes into care, he or she is treated as an emergency situation. Just as hospitals triage medical trauma, the District's Child and Family Services Agency should "triage" the emotional trauma facing children who are brought into its care. The earlier a child is "stabilized," the better his or her chances of avoiding long-term damage. We intended that a "flexible fund" be established that could be used to purchase beds, clothing, and other items to help a relative bring a child into his or her home immediately, without forcing the child to stay in a group home or foster home.

2. Early mental health evaluations and timely mental health services for all children in foster care. The Committee has provided funds for the District's Department of Mental Health to ensure that all children receive timely mental health assessments upon entering foster care, that all mental health assessment reports be provided to the Court in a timely fashion, and that all children receive mental health services immediately after the Court orders those services.

We heard testimony from the DC Family Court that in most child abuse and neglect cases where mental health services had been ordered, there had been long delays in providing those services to the child and/or the family. It had often taken up to six to eight weeks or longer to complete an evaluation and up to 60 days after the evaluation before the mental health services were provided, even in serious cases. I hope that we will hear from our witnesses today that those times have been dramatically shortened.

3. Recruitment and retention of qualified social workers. We provided funds for the repayment of student loans for social workers at the Child and Family Services Agency in the hopes of recruiting and keeping qualified social workers. It is no surprise that the higher the caseload per social worker, the lower the quality of service to each of those children. The District, like many cities, has suffered from a high turnover rate of social workers. Clearly, the relatively low pay and difficult working conditions of social workers has resulted in a child welfare workforce crisis. We have taken a big step to encourage more workers to enter the child welfare workforce by funding student loan repayment, which will aid in the retention and improvement of conditions for the District's social workers.

4. Recruitment and retention of foster parents. This subcommittee also provided funds to recruit and retain foster parents. The Children and Family Services Agency had experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining an adequate number of appropriate, qualified foster parents. One reason for this had been the lack available respite care for foster parents. Foster parents do not have the same opportunities for respite as biological parents. The funds we have provided have helped with emergency respite, planned respite, and ongoing, regularly-scheduled respite. This is critical to provide foster parents the rest that they need to continue to stay on as foster parents. I am hoping that our witnesses can give us a progress report on the use of those funds.

5. Improved computer tracking of all children in foster care. We have also provided funds so that the Agency could move the current client-server system to a web-based architecture and provide lap-top computers to all CFSA social workers. The subcommittee had heard testimony from the Government Accountability Office that CFSA's database lacked many active foster care cases and that the system is often "down." In addition, social workers did not have access to the database via laptop computers. Social workers often had to return to the office -- sometimes late at night -- to enter data on children in care. We planned that some of the funding would allow the agency to purchase laptop computers for social workers so that they would be able to enter key data from off-site locations, such as the Courthouse or the child's home.

As Chairman of this subcommittee, my paramount goal has been to help the District of Columbia improve its foster care system. I view this as my most important priority, and I hope that City leaders also will continue to place the highest priority on this goal. I believe that we have established a unique partnership in the area of foster care improvement, and I am eager to hear what fruits our efforts are now bearing.

As usual, witnesses will be limited to five minutes for their oral remarks to allow ample time for questions and answers. Written statements will be included in the Record. I now turn to my Ranking Member and partner on this Subcommittee, Senator Landrieu, for her opening remarks.

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