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Continued Help for Families in Hardship
This week, Congress took action to continue helping families overcome drug use or other problems and reunite as a family.
All over the country, families affected by substance abuse benefit from a grant program targeted to help them get through difficult times and keep their families together. The community experts approved to receive the grants work to tailor programs that meet their area’s needs. A program targeted to children affected by their parents’ methamphetamine abuse in rural Iowa might not work in urban Chicago.
The Finance Committee, which oversees the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gave unanimous approval to my proposal to continue the regional partnership grants that are distributed to the local entities that help families affected by substance abuse. The House and Senate then adopted the measure in broader child welfare legislation, clearing the package for the President’s consideration.
In the many years that I’ve been working on child welfare issues, especially for children in the foster care system, so many young people have told me that what they want most of all is a mom and dad and a permanent, loving home. These grants help to keep families together, when possible, so that children are not subjected to the many difficulties they face in the foster care system.
The grants are used to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children who are not in their homes or are likely to be removed from their homes because of substance abuse by their parents. My legislation reauthorizes the grant program for five years, along with my provision that allows current grant recipients to pursue a two-year grant extension. This will help to prevent any lapse where the program is making a positive difference.
Since the regional partnership grant program was created in 2006, 53 grants have been awarded to partnerships covering 29 states and six tribes. More than 8,000 adults and 12,000 children have been served by the grants. The funding supports family treatment drug courts, better system-wide collaboration, family-centered treatment, evidence-based practice approaches, parent advocates, and drug treatment monitoring. My legislation this year also includes a five percent cap on administrative expenses for the grants so that more dollars are spent in the field rather than in Washington.
The regional partnership grants have helped to bring back together families torn apart by substance abuse, one of the leading reasons why children are forced into the foster care system. Long-term, those kids benefit tremendously if foster care can be avoided or, at the very least, be a short-term detour, with family reunification and, when necessary, adoption.
September 23, 2011
This week, Congress took action to continue helping families overcome drug use or other problems and reunite as a family.
All over the country, families affected by substance abuse benefit from a grant program targeted to help them get through difficult times and keep their families together. The community experts approved to receive the grants work to tailor programs that meet their area’s needs. A program targeted to children affected by their parents’ methamphetamine abuse in rural Iowa might not work in urban Chicago.
The Finance Committee, which oversees the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gave unanimous approval to my proposal to continue the regional partnership grants that are distributed to the local entities that help families affected by substance abuse. The House and Senate then adopted the measure in broader child welfare legislation, clearing the package for the President’s consideration.
In the many years that I’ve been working on child welfare issues, especially for children in the foster care system, so many young people have told me that what they want most of all is a mom and dad and a permanent, loving home. These grants help to keep families together, when possible, so that children are not subjected to the many difficulties they face in the foster care system.
The grants are used to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children who are not in their homes or are likely to be removed from their homes because of substance abuse by their parents. My legislation reauthorizes the grant program for five years, along with my provision that allows current grant recipients to pursue a two-year grant extension. This will help to prevent any lapse where the program is making a positive difference.
Since the regional partnership grant program was created in 2006, 53 grants have been awarded to partnerships covering 29 states and six tribes. More than 8,000 adults and 12,000 children have been served by the grants. The funding supports family treatment drug courts, better system-wide collaboration, family-centered treatment, evidence-based practice approaches, parent advocates, and drug treatment monitoring. My legislation this year also includes a five percent cap on administrative expenses for the grants so that more dollars are spent in the field rather than in Washington.
The regional partnership grants have helped to bring back together families torn apart by substance abuse, one of the leading reasons why children are forced into the foster care system. Long-term, those kids benefit tremendously if foster care can be avoided or, at the very least, be a short-term detour, with family reunification and, when necessary, adoption.
September 23, 2011