May is National Foster Care Month and as a result there have been a number of events on and around Capitol Hill focusing attention on child welfare in an effort to highlight issues around out of home care.
On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will add to the focus by holding a hearing. It will focus attention group/congregate/residential care. Congressional committees are now in the habit of titling their hearings and this one is, “No Place to Grow Up: How to Safely Reduce Reliance on Foster Care Group Homes.” The scheduled witnesses include Lexie Gruber (Former Foster Youth, Hamden, CT), Dr. Jeremy Christopher Kohomban , The Children’s Village, NYC, Matthew Reynell (Adoptive Father) and Associate Commissioner JooYeun Chang, Children’s Bureau.
The Senate Finance Committee hearing will be competing with a forum at the White House. The White House will focus on foster care by recognizing a number of “champions of change” (see article below). Later in the afternoon Futures Without Violence will release “Safe, Healthy and Ready to Learn” policy recommendations (which CWLA has endorsed) to strengthen prevention and invention services and policies for children and families.
