President Obama Signs Ranking Member Doggett’s Bipartisan Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act

September 30, 2011

Washington—Today, President Obama signed bipartisan legislation to provide assistance to at-risk families, youth and foster children by improving and extending key child welfare programs by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Human Resources Subcommittee. The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act, which Ranking Member Doggett sponsored with Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Geoff Davis (R-KY) would also extend the Promoting Safe and Stable Families and Child Welfare Services programs, and would reauthorize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow states to use federal foster care funds to test innovative, new child welfare programs. The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform called this bill the biggest change for the better in federal child welfare law in 31 years.

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During debate of the legislation in the U.S. House of Representative, Ranking Member Doggett delivered the following floor speech, praising the bipartisan nature of this bill and indicating that he fully supports it versus allowing the two programs that it extends to expire, while also acknowledging that this bill does not go far enough to meet more children's needs.

"With need growing and funding limited, too many of our most vulnerable children cannot access the services that they so desperately need," said Rep. Doggett. "This bill leaves too many problems unresolved, but in our current climate, I believe it is about the best that we can do to protect the well being of at-risk children. This bill reauthorizes help to at least some children, who become victims of maltreatment, provides family support activities to some vulnerable families, and promotes adoption services for those children who cannot safely return to their biological parents."