Florida Amicus Brief

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 FCAA SIGNS ON TO LETTER REGARDING HOME VISITATION

July 9, 2009

The Honorable Mike Pence,
Chairman House Republican
Conference 1420 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
 

Dear Chairman Pence:

In “Trillions in Spending, Billions for Babysitters?” the House Republican Conference unfairly criticizes public investment in voluntary home visitation programs, likening its benefits to little more than babysitting services and even suggesting that a Baby Einstein DVD might be an accurate substitute. The Conference’s statement ignores decades of evidence and the research of respected scholars and scientists, which conclusively demonstrate that evidence-based home visitation can contribute to reductions in public expenditures on unnecessary health care, education, welfare and criminal justice expenditures by empowering low-income and at-risk children and families to improve their health, development, educational attainment and economic self-sufficiency. We are confident that with information regarding the benefits of evidence-based home visitation, the Conference will embrace its expansion in health reform as one of the cornerstones of promoting effective programs that improve the health and well-being of children and safeguard the public trust.
Voluntary home visitation programs provide in-home services to parents and children beginning prenatally up to kindergarten entry age. Trained home visitors, who come from a range of backgrounds including nursing, social work and early childhood education, meet with families in their homes on a twice-a-week, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis depending on the needs of the individual families to counsel them on maternal and child health and development, help improve parenting skills, promote school readiness, respond to challenges the parents and children face, and help them access needed mental health, education, and social services. Using research and evidence-based curriculum as the foundation, home visitors assist parents to help their children grow up to be healthy, ready to learn and reach their full potential. Home visitors also help link families to a broader range of services and supports in the community.
The results of various rigorous research studies show that evidence-based home visitation services produce measurable outcomes for children and families including:
• Improved pregnancy and child health and development outcomes;
• Increased school readiness and sustained success in school;
• Increased high school graduation rates;
• Reduced incidence of child abuse, neglect and injuries;
• Increased parental involvement;
• Reduced dependency on public assistance and increased economic self sufficiency; and
• Reduced involvement with the criminal justice system.
 

These benefits are real and lasting. They also can save public expenditures. For example, it is estimated that for every dollar spent on nurse home visitation, society can save as much as $5.70. In fact, studies show that nurse home visitation reduces enrollment in the Medicaid and Food Stamps programs.
The home visiting grant program in the Tri-Committee’s health reform discussion draft recognizes that the need for quality home visiting programs far exceeds the supply. It will provide funds to create and expand home visiting programs, and also go further and help link existing home visiting programs funded by other sources in states to maximize their effect on the lives of low-income and high risk families. It will build on what both science and practice tell us works.
We have been pleased by the continued bipartisan, bicameral support for expanding federal support for quality home visitation programs. During the 110th Congress, several Republican House members sponsored the Education Begins at Home Act (HR 2343), a bill that helped shape the language included in Section 1704 of the House Tri-Committee’s health reform discussion draft. Similarly federal support for home visitation services had a number of Republican supporters in the Senate, most notably Senator Christopher Bond, an original sponsor of the bill, from Missouri, who knows first-hand the benefits of home visitation services.
Voluntary home visitation is an effective, research-based and cost-efficient way to ensure that all children have the opportunity to grow up healthy, safe, ready to learn and able to become productive members of society. Investing in this research-proven approach now will mean savings down the road in costs associated with health, education, child maltreatment and criminal justice. We urge Members of the Conference to support increased investments in quality evidence-based home visitation.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Children and Families, American Humane Association, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, Broader, Bolder Approach to Education Children’s Defense Fund, CLASP, Coalition for Juvenile Justice ,Coalition on Human Needs, CWLA, DADS Unlimited, Family Violence Prevention Fund, First Five Years Fund ,First Focus, Foster Care Alumni of America, Foster Club, Foster Family-Based Treatment Association, Generations ,United Great Kids, Inc. ,Healthy Teen Network, HIPPY USA, KidSave, National African American, Drug Policy Coalition, Inc., National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds, National Association for the Education of Homeless, Children and Youth, National Association of County Human Services Administrators, National Association for the Counsel of Children, National Association for the Education of Young Children ,National Center for Housing and Child Welfare National Child Abuse Coalition, National Collaboration for Youth, National Council of Jewish Women, National Exchange Club Foundation, National Foster Care Coalition, National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality, National Network for Youth, National Parenting Education Network ,National WIC Association, National Women’s Law Center ,National Youth Advocate Program, Nurse-Family Partnership, Ounce of Prevention Fund, Parent-Child Home Program, Parents as Teachers National Center, PICO National Network ,Prevent Child Abuse America/Healthy Families America, RESULTS Society for Research in Child Development, Voices for America’s Children 
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 05/1/2009

 

  THE "GODFATHER OF FOSTER CARE" INTRODUCES A RESOLUTION ON NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

  H. RES. 391  

Recognizing May as `National Foster Care Month' and acknowledging that
the House of Representatives should continue to work to improve the
Nation's foster care system.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 30, 2009

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself and Mr. LINDER) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

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RESOLUTION
 

Recognizing May as `National Foster Care Month' and acknowledging that
the House of Representatives should continue to work to improve the
Nation's foster care system. 

Whereas on average, the Nation's foster care system provides for more
than a half a million children each day who are unable to live safely
with their biological parents;

Whereas National Foster Care Month provides an opportunity to recognize
the important role that foster care parents, workers, and advocates have
in the lives of children in the foster care system throughout the United
States;

Whereas the primary goal of the foster care system is to ensure the
safety and well-being of children, while working to provide such
children with a permanent, safe, and loving home;

Whereas foster parents give children the opportunity to live with
families and make lasting attachments instead of living in institutions,
where they face a reduced chance for permanency;

Whereas States, localities, and communities should be encouraged to
invest available resources on reunification services and post-permanency
supports designed to allow more children in the foster care system to
safely return to their biological parents, or find permanent placements
through adoption or guardianship;

Whereas children of color are more likely to stay in the foster care
system for longer periods of time and are less likely to be reunited
with their biological families;

Whereas 293,000 children entered the foster care system during fiscal
year 2007;

Whereas in fiscal year 2007, there was an average of 131,000 children in
the foster care system each day who were waiting to be adopted;

Whereas while a majority of children in the foster care system have the
goal of being reunited with their biological parents, more than 23
percent of children who were in the foster care system on the last day
of fiscal year 2007 were seeking placement through the adoption process;
Whereas the overall reduction in the number of children in the foster
care system in the last decade does not reflect a decline in the level
of Federal assistance necessary to assist those living in foster care
and the dedicated men and women in the child welfare workforce;

Whereas the number of children `aging out' of the foster care system
without finding a permanent family increased to an all-time high of
nearly 28,000 in fiscal year 2007;

Whereas children `aging out' of the foster care system lack the security
of a biological or adoptive family to fall back on when struggling to
secure affordable housing, obtain health insurance, pursue higher
education, and acquire adequate employment;

Whereas the foster care system is intended to be a temporary solution,
however, on average, children remain in the system for at least 2 years;
Whereas studies suggest that nearly 60 percent of children in the foster
care system experience a chronic medical condition and 25 percent suffer
from 3 or more chronic medical conditions;

Whereas while in the foster care system, children experience an average
of 3 different placements, moves that often mean disrupting routines,
changing schools, and moving away from brothers and sisters, extended
family, and familiar surroundings;

Whereas the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions
Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351) provided new investments and services
to improve the outcomes of children and families in the foster care
system; and

Whereas all children deserve a loving and stable family, regardless of
age or special needs: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) supports the designation of a `National Foster Care Month';

(2) acknowledges the needs of children in the foster care system;

(3) honors the commitment and dedication of those individuals who work
tirelessly to provide assistance and services to children in the foster
care system; and

(4) recognizes the need to continue work to improve outcomes of all
children in the foster care system through the title IV program in the
Social Security Act and other programs that are designed to help
children in the foster care system reunite with their biological parents
and, when children are unable to return to their biological parents, to
find them a permanent, safe, and loving home.

 

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Members of FCAA and other advocates are celebrating the passage of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.  Our members have been instrumental in the passage of the bill in both houses of Congress through our campaigns to email and call your Senators and Representatives over the last several months. 

 

For a section-by-section detailing of the bill, click here.

 

This bill does the following to support our younger brothers and sisters from foster care: