HOME

CONTACT

NEWS

PETE'S LEGISLATION

HEALTH CARE REFORM

CA-13 APPROPRIATIONS

SERVICES

VISIT D.C.

KIDS' PAGE

BIOGRAPHY

Thursday, 15 October 2009

For the Congressional Record October 15, 2009 Statement of Congressman Pete Stark Introducing the Every Child Deserves a Family Act MR. STARK: Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that will open up thousands of good homes to foster children.  On any given day, there are approximately 500,000 children in the child welfare system.  Over 125,000 of these abused and neglected children are waiting to be adopted.  There is an acute shortage, however, of adoptive and foster parents.  The result is that many children, particularly minority and special needs children, languish in foster care without permanent homes. The severe developmental, emotional, and educational costs to children raised in foster care are well documented.  The 25,000 youth who never find a permanent family and “age out” of the system each year are more likely than nearly any other group to become homeless, incarcerated, or suffer with mental illness or substance abuse. Despite the shortage of adoptive and foster parents and the terrible consequences of long stays in the child welfare system, some states have enacted discriminatory bans prohibiting children from being placed with qualified parents due to the parent’s marital status or sexual orientation.  Currently, over 65,000 adopted children and 14,000 foster children are living with a gay or lesbian parent.  Studies suggest that upward of 2 million gay and lesbian individuals are interested in adopting or fostering a child.  Yet, statewide discriminatory bans and the practices of individual adoption agencies have resulted in fewer children being placed in safe and permanent homes.   Congress invests over $8 billion in the child welfare system each year and we should not accept policies that use Federal funds to enact barriers to adoption and close the door to thousands of potential homes.  Multiple studies have found that adopted and foster children raised by gay and lesbian parents fare just as well as their peers being raised by heterosexual parents.  When considering a potential placement for a child, the only criteria should be what is in the child’s best interest and whether the prospective parents can provide a safe and nurturing home.  Bigotry should play no part in this decision.  That is why I am introducing the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act.”  This legislation would simply prohibit any entity that receives Federal child welfare funds from denying or delaying adoption or foster care placements based solely on the prospective parent’s marital status or sexual orientation.  States and child welfare agencies that fail to end discriminatory practices would face financial penalties.  This is the same approach that put an end to race discrimination in adoption and foster care placements. Abused and neglected children in our child welfare system are some of the most vulnerable members of our society.  We cannot allow divisive politics to further harm these children by shrinking the number of prospective adoptive and foster parents.  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in saying yes to children and no to bigotry by cosponsoring the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” and working with me to make it law.