Ways and Means SubCommittee Holds Hearings On Foster Care

In Washington DC, hearings were held by the Ways and Means Subcommittee to address the problems with the foster care system. Specifically the committee was interested in hearing from human trafficking victims who had been foster care youths. The caucus is looking at ways to address the issues in the Child Welfare system in response to the Trafficking Act in order to prevent exploitation to foster care children.

A former foster care child Withelma Ortiz Walker Petigrew gave a testimony about her experience in the foster care system. She also spoke to MSNBC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DvFSpwwq7M

In response, a number of pieces of new legislation were introduced to Congress.

Go here to let your opinions be known as well as your experiences with foster care in Berks County! This is SO important!!!!!!!
http://fosteryouthcaucus-karenbass.house.gov/



Also, go here to like this facebook page and let your opinions be known on the issue of foster care, especially the system in Berks County!

https://www.facebook.com/fosteryouthcaucus

On October 22nd, a bill was passed to encourage adoption of foster care youth. You can see this here

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d113:h.r.3205:

The legislation accomplishes this according to those in the know:

In addition to reauthorizing the Adoption Incentives program for three years, this legislation:

• revises awards to focus on increasing adoption rates in order to encourage states to continue placing foster children in permanent homes even as foster care caseloads continue to decline;
• focuses more resources on increasing adoptions of older children;
• creates a new award category for increases in the rate of children leaving foster care for legal guardianship with loving and stable relatives;
• extends the Family Connection Grants program designed to help foster children reconnect with family members; and
• requires states to focus on post-adoption services, helping children and families even after adoptions have been finalized.