'Throwing Money At It': Van Duyne Asks Experts About Allocation Of Federal Funding For Child Welfare

6 months ago

During a House Ways & Means Committee hearing Wednesday, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) spoke about how the federal government spends funding allocated for child welfare.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:02Today's hearing has given us the opportunity to highlight the important work

00:05that this committee is doing to ensure child welfare agencies and those

00:09in the foster care system have the resources and the tools that are needed

00:13to provide care to those most vulnerable.

00:16The reauthorization of Title IV-B provides an opportunity to discuss ways

00:19in which we can introduce program efficiency

00:22and modernize child support programs.

00:24During our hearing last November

00:26on strengthening child support enforcement, one of our witnesses,

00:29Ms. Turetsky, cited the State Department's Passport Denial Program,

00:33which prohibits passport renewal or replacement for parents who owe more

00:36than $2,500 in child support as one of the most effective mechanisms

00:41that the federal government has to enforce past due support obligations.

00:45That's why I introduced the Ensuring Children Receive Support Act

00:48to expand this effective program by not only prohibiting renewal of a passport,

00:53but by requiring that the passport also be revoked.

00:56We need outside-the-box ideas to ensure our children have the resources they need

01:00and deserve, and this serves as a prime example of the type

01:03of effective child welfare program that we should aim to advance

01:06as we move forward with reauthorization.

01:09We need to be elevating policies and programs like the Passport Denial Program

01:12that are proven to work effectively.

01:15Mr. Gein, given your experience, what are some key strategies or policies

01:21that you believe could help improve the overall quality of child welfare services?

01:25We have heard from some of our members on the other side of the aisle

01:28that it's about money, that we need more funds.

01:31I can't tell you how often I'm in office, and everybody

01:34who comes into my office, we need more money.

01:36I would remind the panelists, the members here, that a lot of times

01:41when we throw more money at a problem, it increases the cost while decreasing the care

01:46and decreasing the quality.

01:48I can give you examples in healthcare.

01:49I can give you examples in education where that's the case.

01:52It's not always about the money.

01:54Tell me how we can more effectively help the industry and how we can be more supportive

02:00without just throwing more money at it.

02:04So I'll start with, I agree with you that it's not just about the money.

02:10It's how that money is spent.

02:13And so one of the questions is, we talked earlier about the disproportionate amount

02:19of federal funds that are allocated for foster care and adoption.

02:23And you're reauthorizing a program that is 4% of federal funds for child welfare.

02:28How do we figure out a way to be able to incentivize the performance of states

02:35to achieve the outcomes we want for kids and still be able

02:39to maintain the level of federal investment?

02:42Today, if you prevent a child from going into foster care,

02:46you actually lose the federal investment on the foster care side by spending prevention money.

02:51So that's not how caseworkers think.

02:54They don't like make a decision based on whether they're getting federal reimbursement.

02:58But the ability to keep a child out of foster care is based on what else is out there.

03:04And part of the challenge is as we try to reduce something, we have to increase something else.

03:10That's where the new money is actually needed.

03:13It's not a permanent increase.

03:15It's an ability to shift what you're doing from the status quo to best practice.

03:20All right, thank you.

03:21Earlier this year, an alarming article highlighted Texas's expenditure of over $250 million

03:27on housing foster children in unsafe, unregulated facilities following the termination

03:32of parental rights.

03:33Federal court documents and testimonies revealed

03:35that these facilities often locked essential services, including basic necessities

03:39such as readily available food and consistent supervision,

03:42crucial for the state's most vulnerable foster children.

03:44Astonishingly, the budget documented allocated no funds

03:48for mental health treatment despite extensive documentation these youths have high mental

03:52health needs and exhibit aggression.

03:55This situation highlights a challenge that states across the country are grappling

03:58with a shortage of placements for foster care with mental health needs.

04:02Texas ranks among the top states for kids in foster care with more than 31,000 children

04:07in the system, most of whom suffer neglect, drug abuse by a parent, and physical abuse.

04:12The further mistreatment and lack of proper care for these kids is inexcusable.

04:16Ms. Hilton, from your experience, what are the outcomes

04:19for youth placed in these kinds of facilities?

04:23Thank you for highlighting that article.

04:24And it's so concerning what foster youth have experienced.

04:29The outcomes for this youth are horrible and children are being abused and dying

04:35in these kind of facilities, and just surviving is the best case scenario.

04:40I feel grateful where I am in life after my experience, but most don't end up.

04:45Having access to education and they end up homeless, having trauma,

04:50and a high percentage commit suicide because they don't know how to deal with the experience.

04:54The government is paying for this abuse and we must stop it.

04:58Thank you very much, Ms. Hilton, and I yield back.

'Throwing Money At It': Van Duyne Asks Experts About Allocation Of Federal Funding For Child Welfare

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