McDermott Introduces Reform Bill: Leave No Abused or Neglected Child Behind
On July 28, 2005, Jim McDermott introduced the most comprehensive reform bill in a decade to identify and protect abused and neglected children across the country. Called "Leave No Abused or Neglected Child Behind" McDermott said his legislation will throw out old ideas and ineffective policies, replacing them with a new vision that emphasizes innovation, prevention, and the development of programs that must be proven effective in order to receive long-term federal funding.
"Every child born in America deserves an equal opportunity to grow up in a safe environment, but that's not the case today," McDermott said.
Although today's bill introduction had been planned for some time, McDermott noted a new urgency to address the issues after seeing a news report today in his Seattle, Washington, Congressional District concerning allegations of child abuse.
"Every day across the country, there are new stories of abuse, neglect, and worse against our most vulnerable population: our children. I'm not just saying we need new legislation; I'm asking Republicans and Democrats to join me in launching a rescue mission to protect and save our disadvantaged children," McDermott said.
"Children who cannot protect themselves are falling through holes in the patchwork of child welfare policies, and we have to do something about that—and do it now."
McDermott is the ranking Democrat on the Human Resources Subcommittee, which oversees the federal commitment and responsibility to children and adults who are disadvantaged, neglected, and abused.
"For the sake of the children, for the good of the country, we cannot accept past practice, but must instead create innovative new public policy," McDermott said.
McDermott said the current system systematically lets down these children for three fundamental reasons:
First, there is currently an unlimited federal commitment to fund services that support children removed from their home, but the supports provided to keep families safely together are limited. In fact, only 57% of children who are substantiated victims of abuse or neglect receive follow-up services from the child welfare system.
Second, federal eligibility rules for foster care exclude over half of the children removed from their homes. And this number shrinks a little more every year because of out-of-date standards.
Third, we do not provide caseworkers with the tools and resources needed to effectively do their jobs.
"We don't need any more studies; we need political will. We need bipartisan support and swift action on Leave No Abused or Neglected Child Behind legislation," McDermott said.
According to McDermott, the legislation will fundamentally change how the federal government evaluates and funds programs meant to identify and protect children at-risk.
Leave No Abused or Neglected Child Behind has a five-point plan:
1. The federal government will partner with states willing to explore innovative ways to strengthen vulnerable families and protect children. We'll extend the same commitment to supporting families and preventing abuse as we now do to placing children in foster care.
2. We will hold states accountable for results by tying these new investments to improved outcomes for children.
3. We will say there is a federal interest in every child removed from his or her home because of abuse or neglect, not just in those children who meet outdated eligibility criteria.
4. We will do a better job of reaching out to relatives caring for at-risk children.
5. We'll provide federal seed money to enable States to devise and test new ways to attract, retain, and support caseworkers for the child welfare system.
McDermott closed by saying, "There is no excuse large enough, vague enough, or partisan enough to keep us from protecting millions of abused, neglected, and forgotten children. They turn to us for help because there is nowhere else to turn, except to despair."
Revision date: July 29, 2005
