{"id":81224,"date":"2017-05-28T05:27:01","date_gmt":"2017-05-28T09:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=81224"},"modified":"2017-05-28T00:00:23","modified_gmt":"2017-05-28T04:00:23","slug":"gillibrand-young-and-grassley-lead-reintroduction-of-legislation-to-improve-modernize-foster-child-placement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=81224","title":{"rendered":"Gillibrand, Young and Grassley lead reintroduction of legislation to improve, modernize foster child placement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Kirsten Gillibrand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senators Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led a bipartisan effort to modernize the foster care placement process. Their effort takes steps to alleviate our overwhelmed adoption system.<\/p>\n

Gillibrand, Young, and Grassley were joined in introducing the Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act <\/em>by Senators Al Franken (D-MN), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).<\/p>\n

Currently, states use antiquated paper-based systems to process and approve placement cases, significantly hamstringing efforts to place foster children in loving homes. The legislation would provide resources to modernize the system by implementing a standardized electronic interstate system, known as the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith so many American children in need of a home, we should not be delaying the process for loving, caring, and responsible adults who want to welcome these children into their families,\u201d said\u00a0Senator Gillibrand. \u201cThe outdated process we currently have puts an unnecessary burden on child welfare agencies and prevents children from growing up in a safe home with devoted parents. The Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act would streamline the process, and let as many of our nation\u2019s foster children as possible find homes and parents who love them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of children in my state have lost loving parents to opiate addiction, and I fear if we do nothing, we\u2019ll lose thousands in the next generation, too. Modernizing the outdated interstate child placement process is one of a number of proposals that are urgently needed. \u00a0It will help alleviate the strain on the foster care system. \u00a0It will more quickly get children placed into loving homes where a set routine and stability will help them cope. Tragedy compounded by extended stints in various foster arrangements has proven detrimental to a child\u2019s future. For children caught up in a system struggling to meet community needs, we should do everything possible to get them immediately placed in the setting that\u2019s best for them, regardless of state boundary lines,\u201d said\u00a0Senator Todd Young.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, for example, Iowa is not yet a member of the NEICE system. \u00a0If a child lives in Red Oak, Iowa, and there is a potential family able to care and provide for that child across the state border in Omaha, there might be delays in the paperwork needed for the adoption because the two states can\u2019t exchange data quickly and securely. \u00a0Throughout the country, caseworkers often avoid exploring out of state placements because of the long delays in processing the paperwork. Our bill gives incentives to states to join the NEICE system and streamline the paperwork to make foster care placements and eventual adoption happen faster. \u00a0The more we can do to give children safe, stable homes, the better. \u00a0The increased displacement of kids due to parental substance abuse, including opioid abuse, makes this cause especially important,\u201d said Senator Chuck Grassley.<\/p>\n

This legislation passed the House of Representatives as part of two different pieces of legislation \u2013 H.R. 4472 and H.R. 5456 \u2013 in the previous session of Congress.<\/p>\n

Supporters and Advocates:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Supporters: <\/strong>American Public Human Services Association, Child Welfare League of America, Children’s Home Society of America, Consortium for Children, The National Association of Counties, the National Association of County Human Services Administrators, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, and the Donaldson Adoption Institute, Inc.<\/p>\n

John Sciamanna, Vice President of Public Policy for Child Welfare League of America<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Child Welfare League of America supports the \u2018Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act.\u2019\u00a0 It is critical that states take the necessary steps to modernize the interstate compact and the process they\u00a0use to place a child across state lines.\u00a0 When the best home and best interest of the child is with a family in another state the current process can sometimes fail.\u00a0\u00a0Research now shows that we can use 21st cen21st-centuryt and digital\u00a0technology to speed up adoptions.\u00a0With more than 112,000 waiting to be adopted that is in everybody’s interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schylar Baber, Executive Director, Voice of Adoption<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn many adoption cases, the best placement for a child may be in another state. Currently, such placements are quite challenging to complete and can delay permanence and cause a child to linger in foster care. Voice for Adoption believes the federal government has a critical role to play in easing the process of interstate placements, and supports the NEICE program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senators Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led a bipartisan effort to modernize the foster care placement process. Their effort takes steps to alleviate our overwhelmed adoption system. Gillibrand, Young, and Grassley were joined in introducing the Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act by Senators Al Franken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-l84","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Gillibrand.jpg?fit=224%2C221&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}