Darin LaHood Encourages Reforms To 'Ensure We Have A Strong Safety Net' For Children In Foster Care

2 months ago

During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing late last month, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) questioned witnesses about welfare program reforms, and protections for children in foster care.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:05Let me thank the witnesses today for your valuable testimony and your compelling examples

00:12here today.

00:13Mrs. Peterson, I want to particularly thank you for sharing your life journey.

00:16You're really a shining example of success and perseverance and appreciate your passion

00:20and courage.

00:23We're having this hearing today as we consider reforms to Title IV-B, which of course is

00:27an important child welfare program that provides flexibility funding to states and tribes.

00:33As the chairman of the Work and Welfare Subcommittee, I take very seriously our responsibility to

00:39ensure we have a strong safety net for nearly 370,000 children in foster care who have experienced

00:46the trauma and hardships of abuse and neglect.

00:49This Congress, the Work and Welfare Subcommittee, has taken a deep dive into current challenges

00:54facing child welfare, continuing decades-long tradition of doing so in a bipartisan basis.

01:02Last week, I was proud to co-lead the introduction of the Parents Act with my fellow Illinoisan

01:06ranking member, Congressman Danny Davis, a bill aimed at finding ways to better nurture

01:11the relationship between foster children and their incarcerated parents.

01:16Our subcommittee has held two child welfare hearings this particular Congress.

01:20In September of last year, we heard from witnesses about ways to modernize Title IV-B.

01:25And in January, the subcommittee held a hearing on improving support for the 19,000 youth

01:30aging out of foster care each year.

01:34Witnesses at these hearings included state officials, leaders from community-based organizations,

01:39and former foster youth who shared recommendations on ways to improve the system moving forward.

01:45And this full committee hearing today signals important progress in our ability to work

01:49together to reauthorize Title IV-B of this Congress.

01:54Mrs. Peterson, one of the policies that I focused on on our subcommittee is embracing

01:59the stories of those that have experienced transformational change from the power of

02:04employment, brought to their lives by a job.

02:07The focus has been not just about the job, but the dignity of work.

02:12I appreciate your perspective on how we can encourage and promote this dignity for all

02:17vulnerable populations, including foster youth.

02:20As you know, only about 55 percent of foster youth are in full-time employment past the

02:25age of 18.

02:27In our opinion, why, I guess, let's strike that.

02:31In your opinion, why is the percentage so low, and how can we improve barriers to full-time

02:36employment for foster youth?

02:38Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for your work.

02:40It sounds very powerful.

02:42I think this percentage is so low for two reasons.

02:44The first is that foster youth usually do not receive as many opportunities as their

02:48peers who are not in foster children.

02:51That can be because foster youth tend to be stigmatized as troubled children, which makes

02:55it harder for them to gain employment as young people, or because foster youth usually move

02:59from home to home unexpectedly.

03:02This causes them to miss out on opportunities like sports tryouts, or makes them have to

03:08leave jobs unexpectedly, which then makes them less hireable when they go to get another

03:12job.

03:13This is also the piece that I briefly mentioned in my statement.

03:17One of the young men my husband and I were mentoring as a part of this nonprofit, he

03:21was a former foster youth, and he was living off of free housing and getting a weekly stipend

03:25from Chafee Funds.

03:27Those offering him these resources told him he would continue to receive the resources

03:32as long as he worked 20 hours a week, and he wasn't doing any higher education outside

03:37of ... No higher education, just work.

03:41What programs like this teach young people is that part-time work is sustainable for

03:44life, and they can live off of government resources.

03:48The young man did get removed from the program because he wasn't meeting the requirements

03:52of working 20 hours a week, and he then fell into homelessness.

03:55Just a couple months later, he gained full-time employment.

03:58He's now paying for his own housing.

04:00His mental health is doing much better because he can't sleep all day because he has to go

04:04to work.

04:05My husband and I see this pattern in young people again, and again, and again.

04:10The point is not that we shouldn't help, but that there is a point when helping hurts,

04:17and it's our responsibility as the helper to figure out where that point is.

04:22When resources are excessive, they can become enabling to young adults and communities because

04:27communities are then given permission to not invest their time and energy and love into

04:31these youth.

04:33We need to find that fine line of giving young adults what they need to survive in an empowering

04:37way rather than an enabling way.

04:39Well, Mrs. Peterson, that's a great example of what we're focused on, on the importance

04:44of employment and the dignity of work, and we're grateful to have you here today.

04:49Thank you, and I yield back.

04:50Thank you.

04:51Thank you.

Darin LaHood Encourages Reforms To 'Ensure We Have A Strong Safety Net' For Children In Foster Care

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