Mr. Chairman, I share your appreciation for the work of the Court Appointment Special Advocates, or CASA, program. I have worked with CASA in Texas and commend them for their important work on behalf of vulnerable children. The hearing today focuses on critical services that protect our children from abuse and neglect. Federal funding for these types of services - which is primarily provided through the Child Welfare Services program and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program - expire in September. These programs have long enjoyed bipartisan support, and I hope that we can again work together to extend and improve these vital services to protect vulnerable children.
The Child Welfare Services and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs will provide about $700 million this year to States for early intervention and family services designed to help our most at-risk families. These funds are a critical part of States’ efforts to ensure children are raised safely in their homes and, when that is not possible, to find a permanent home with a relative or an adoptive family.
In my home state of Texas, the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program has provided funds to help children in Travis County who are affected by substance abuse in the home. This program has enabled Travis County to develop a flexible, comprehensive continuum of services aimed at promoting recovery and ensuring that children have a safe home free of debilitating drug addiction and abuse.
We know that an investment in front-end services not only saves lives, but also can reduce the costs of removing a child from his or her home and placing a child in foster care.
We have seen how mindless budget cutting can hurt our children. In Texas, there was a proposal in the State Senate earlier this year would have drastically cut funds for caseworkers and investigators of child abuse, as well as eliminated relative caregiver and adoption programs. While that proposal was not wholly adopted, Texas did cut certain services to prevent child abuse and neglect by 44 percent according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
Here in Washington, the Republican budget resolution would eliminate the Social Services Block Grant, which provides $1.7 billion to States to support and protect vulnerable populations. Eliminating these grants could jeopardize child protective services for almost two million at-risk children.
Mr. Chairman, our Committee has a history of putting aside partisan differences to work together to meet the needs of children who are at-risk of abuse and neglect. I look forward to working with you and continuing that tradition of protecting vulnerable children.
