Washington – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member and former Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, today participated in a hearing examining the impact of 2018. Family First Preventive Services Act. Prior to taking questions, Mr. Grassley thanked committee leaders for calling attention to the challenges and opportunities facing America's child welfare system during National Foster Parents Month. He is co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth.
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“We must continue to have discussions about how to serve vulnerable children and families who are at risk of entering the child welfare system or finding permanent housing for children in foster care.” Grassley said.. “When you've been in foster care for a long time, probably 25 or 30 years, you ask kids who move from foster care to foster care two or three times a year what they want, and they say they want permanence. . . . They want to own a home, and they want a mom and dad.”
Mr. Grassley’s child welfare record and priorities:
- Last week, Grassley met with The Casey Family program explains how to support families and children, as well as preventive services for at-risk youth.
- Grassley is pushing bipartisan legislation that would strengthen care and interagency information sharing for missing and runaway foster youth.
- This Congress, Mr. Grassley is spearheading bipartisan legislation to improve foster care recruitment, retention and support by modifying feedback processes and enhancing data collection.
- In 2019, Grassley wrote an op-ed for the Gazette about the tensions in the foster care system as a whole, emphasizing the value of community engagement.
- Since 2014, Mr. Grassley has authored a resolution to designate each May as National Foster Parent Month, recognizing the resilience of children in foster care and all those working to improve their conditions.
- In 2011, Grassley worked to reauthorize the grant, which he first established in 2006, to help families struggling with substance abuse and better ensure the safety and well-being of children. Children and Family Services Improvement Act.
- In 2008, Grassley led a bipartisan effort to pass the bill.Cultivate connections to success and increase recruitment efforts. The act provided federal incentives for moving children from foster care to foster homes, and also included the Grassley bill to make it easier for children to remain in their home communities. A long-term foster care option was also created to support children who need to leave foster care at age 18.
- In 1997, GrassleyAdoption and Safe Families LawThis has dramatically increased the number of adoptions from foster care systems across the country.
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