Rep. Davis Celebrates Committee Passage of His Bipartisan Bill to Reform Child Welfare to Protect America’s Children

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, Danny K. Davis (D-IL) celebrated the passage by the House Committee on Ways and Means of his bipartisan legislation with Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) to reauthorize and reform child welfare programs under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act. The bipartisan Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act (H.R. 9076) reauthorizes Title IV-B and delivers the first increase in guaranteed funding since 2006. With approximately 369,000 children currently in foster care, this legislation offers vital assistance to help strengthen and keep families together and support the safety and well-being of children in foster care.

The Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act encompasses policies from 16 different pieces of legislation from both Republican and Democrat members of the Ways and Means Committee. The bill follows the Committee's extensive, year-long review of the nation's child welfare programs to identify areas where these programs could better serve children and families. The bill championed by Reps. Davis and LaHood received unanimous support.

Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL) said, "I am proud to join with Chair LaHood in leading this important bill that will increase guaranteed funding for the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families program for the first time since 2006. In addition to providing essential new funding for both state and tribal agencies to strengthen families, this bill includes significant investments and policy updates to improve child safety and well-being. For example, it invests in aiding kinship caregivers in finding needed resources, in evidence-based programs that successfully help parents overcome substance use disorders to safely care for their children, and in independent legal representation to address racial inequities in child welfare. This bill also provides for new demonstration projects to promote meaningful relationships between foster youth and their incarcerated parents, powerful relationships that support both parents and youth."

Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) said, "Following our year-long review of the Title IV-B child welfare program, listening to stakeholders, state administrators, and those with lived experience on the most pressing challenges, I am proud to introduce the Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act. This bipartisan package reauthorizes Title IV-B for five years and implements critical reforms to modernize and strengthen the program, providing essential support to America's children. As Chairman of the Work and Welfare Subcommittee, I am proud to have Ranking Member Danny Davis join this effort, and I am grateful to the members of the Ways and Means Committee whose significant involvement in this process has achieved meaningful reforms of Title IV-B. This commonsense approach will save taxpayer dollars, reduce administrative burdens, expand evidence-based services to prevent child abuse and neglect, and improve outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care."

Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) said, "Our nation's youth deserve safe, stable environments that allow them to grow, learn, and experience the richness of life. Today's slate of legislation is the product of member collaboration across the aisle as well as listening to the lived experiences of so many Americans. The success of our children is our collective success, and I thank our many members for their commitment to investing in the future."

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said, "Child welfare programs are long overdue for reform in order to improve outcomes for children and help families stay united. For the past year, the Ways and Means Committee has diligently reviewed the programs under Title IV-B, holding more hearings on the subject than have occurred in the last eight years combined. We have found that the child welfare system has taken its eye off the ball and is focused too much on bureaucratic paperwork and too little on solutions that keep families together. This bipartisan legislation will help more children live in safe, loving homes with the resources they need. The solutions in this bill came from listening to Americans involved in child welfare, like caseworkers and former foster youth, as well as the concerns for America's kids shared by Republicans and Democrats on this Committee. I want to thank Work and Welfare Subcommittee Chairman LaHood and Ranking Member Davis for introducing this legislation on behalf of America's children and families."

Key policies included in the Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act:

• Reauthorizes Title IV-B for five years and makes reforms to modernize the program.
• Reduces paperwork and data reporting for state agencies and caseworkers by at least 15 percent.
• Strengthens support systems for the 2.5 million grandparents and relatives providing kinship care for children who would otherwise enter foster care.
• Improves access for Indian tribes by streamlining funding, as well as improving state compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.
• Addresses the caseworker crises by ensuring caseworkers have access to technology and training that support a strong workforce.
• Improves outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care, including by allowing foster youth up to age 26 to be eligible for services and incorporating lived experience in the state planning of child welfare plans.
• Supports the expansion of evidence-based services to prevent child abuse and neglect and ensures children are not separated from parents solely due to poverty-related neglect.
• Supports adoption services by evaluating the effectiveness of pre- and post-adoption services available under Title IV-B to adopt the more than 65,000 children waiting to be adopted.

The bill is supported by many child welfare and children's advocates, including: American Academy of Pediatrics; American Psychological Association Services, Inc.; American Public Human Services Association; Bolder Horizon; Child Welfare League of America; Children and Family Futures; Children's Defense Fund; Children's Trust Fund Alliance; Family Focused Treatment Association; FosterClub; Generations United; National Association of Counsel for Children; National Association of Counties; National Association of County Human Services Administrators; National Child Abuse Coalition; National Family Resource Coalition; National Indian Child Welfare Association; Prevent Child Abuse America; Think of Us; Voice for Adoption; and Zero to Three.

A summary of Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act is available here; a section-by-section of the bill is here.

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Representative Davis serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means as the most senior Democrat on the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over child welfare.

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