Stark Statement Supporting the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010

Stark Statement Supporting the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010

For the Congressional Record December 9, 2010 Statement of Congressman Pete Stark Supporting the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 MR. STARK: Madam Speaker, I rise to support the reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. This bill strengthens our ability to identify, treat, and prevent the abuse and neglect of children. This legislation also includes the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, which recognizes the common co-occurrence of child abuse and domestic violence and provides resources to states to address both. The Adoption Opportunities Act included in this bill focuses on the needs of older youth and minority youth in our child welfare system. More than 400,000 youth are in foster care in America. About 115,000 are awaiting adoption. More than one-quarter of those waiting for a family are over the age of twelve. However, the vast majority of those adopted are children under the age of nine. Older youth wait in the child welfare system for a long time, with the chance of being adopted decreasing every day. Many of these youth – over 25,000 each year - age out of the system without a permanent family to support their transition to young adulthood. Too often, these youth end up homeless, unemployed, or incarcerated. I applaud the focus on these older youth. This bill authorizes national recruitment efforts to reach prospective adoptive parents, establishes an internet-based national adoption information exchange system to bring together children up for adoption and qualified adoptive parents, and connects agencies and families to resources that will reduce barriers to adoption. We must do all we can to increase adoption. Earlier this year, I introduced a bill, the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (H.R. 3827), which would further reduce barriers to adoption by preventing discrimination against prospective adoptive parents or foster parents solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identification, or martial status. I look forward to continuing to work on reforming our child welfare system in the next Congress, and I urge my colleagues to support S. 3817 and to stand with me to protect children.