Q: Why did you draft the Adoption Assistance and Relative Guardianship Support Act?
A: The reason I wrote the bill is because there are too many kids that are in foster care that need the safety and stability of a permanent loving home. Adoption is a lifeline of support to some of the most vulnerable kids in the country. I think that was shown back in May when I first introduced the bill and foster care kids and parents from Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Iowa City and Waverly came to Washington to tell their personal stories and build support for the legislation. Every one of their cases offered powerful reasons for Congress to make these changes. Many children nationwide could leave foster care for good and enjoy thesecurity and stability of a permanent home if we provided federal assistance to their legal guardianswho are also their relatives. As ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee which is responsible for social welfare legislation including adoption policies, I have a special duty to help those kids.
Q: What does the Adoption Assistance and Relative Guardianship Support Act do?
A: This bill promotes adoptions by reauthorizing and improving the adoption incentive program as well as phasing in federal adoption assistance to all children that have special needs in foster care. It will increase federal incentives to move kids from foster care into adoptive homes and allow the incentives to be available to kids that can be cared for by their own relatives in their own home communities. It creates a state option to support legal relative guardians for children for whom courts have ruled out adoption and the chance to return home to their birth parents. The legislation includes several child welfare reform provisions including allowing state the option to serve children up age 21, increased attention to the educational needs for children in foster and increased supports for children aging out of care. It also allows Indian Tribes to serve children in their communities directly with culturally appropriate care and understanding by providing the Tribes with the same direct access to federal funding for foster care and adoption services that states have. These changes have been supported by those that know the problems that adoptive kids face the most – adoption groups like the Boys and Girls Home and Family Services in Sioux City, Family Resources in Davenport, Iowa Citizen Action Network in Des Moines, Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parent’s Association in Ankeny, Orchard Place in Des Moines and many national organizations such as Marian Wright Edelman Children’s Defense Fund, the American Bar Association, the North American Council on Adoptable Children and many others.