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Dear Senator Rockefeller and Senator Snowe:
NCSL is delighted to learn that you plan to introduce legislation creating a new block grant program designed to address the connection between substance abuse and child welfare, a growing problem for our nation's child welfare system. This country cannot protect its vulnerable children without confronting the issue of parental substance abuse. Flexible funding is needed to address the changing needs of families and leverage state program funding. At our July 2000 Annual Meeting, NCSL adopted a child welfare policy that calls for federal incentives for partnerships between substance abuse and child welfare agencies including cross system training for staff, improved screening and assessment procedures, comprehensive treatment and prevention programs and improved data collection.
Federal support is necessary to meet the treatment needs of families who come to the attention of the child welfare system because as many as 80 percent of these families struggle with alcohol or drug abuse. In 1997, Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) with strict timelines for decision-making in child welfare cases. ASFA makes the availability of prompt and effective treatment programs a necessity. Your legislation encouraging the substance abuse treatment and child welfare systems to forge partnerships is a critical to keeping children safe and in permanent families.
NCSL appreciates the fact that your bill requires that state legislators are to be consulted in developing the indicators that will measure program success. We hope that the final legislation will ensure the involvement of state legislatures, who share responsibility for implementing, and funding child welfare programs, and providing oversight for those programs. Many state legislators are very interested in the issue of substance abuse and child welfare, and would be enthusiastic partners for federal efforts.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sheri Steisel, Federal Affairs Counsel, in our DC office. Sheri can be reached at (202) 624-8693 or by e-mail at sheri.steisel@ncsl.org.
Sincerely,
Assemblywoman Dion Aroner
California Assembly
Chair, NCSL Human Services Committee |
