WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ruth Massinga, president and CEO of Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest foundation focused on foster care, released the following statement in response to proposed cuts to child welfare programs now being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee:
“It’s shocking to think that Congress would attempt to cut foster care benefits to hundreds of thousands of abused and neglected children who are being cared for by relatives – what we call kinship care. Most of these families are already struggling to make ends meet. If we deny them federal financial support, these children are likely to end up being placed with strangers in the foster care system. It’s contrary to our stated policy objectives to preserve families, and it is contrary to the safety and well being of these children. Moreover, it would increase the burden on a system that is already struggling to find suitable foster families.”
Massinga is referring to the House Ways & Means Committee proposal that includes a provision which would overturn a 2003 Ninth Circuit Court decision, known as “Rosales v. Thompson.”
Rosales vs. Thompson effectively expanded the number of children eligible for federally funded foster care assistance to include children who were living in the home of a grandparent or other relative, often referred to as kinship care. Additionally, lawmakers need to be mindful that this proposed change would have a disproportionate impact on children of color and their families.
Massinga also took issue with efforts that would decrease the amount of funds available for child care for low-income working families under the Child Care and Development block grant program at the same time Congress is moving toward increasing the work requirements for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.
“If we don’t provide adequate child care for these families we are setting them up for failure. How can we expect them to work and care for their children if we create yet another obstacle to protecting these children?
Two weeks ago, Casey Family Programs introduced a report about the damage that would be done to children in foster care from more than $10 billion in proposed cuts to Medicaid. Now, the attacks to this nation’s most vulnerable children are coming on yet another front. We fear that all of these proposals would have the effect of moving more kids into the child welfare and foster care system, and creating long-term negative outcomes for these children and for our federal budget,” Massinga concluded.