{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lahood.house.gov/2024/7/icymi-lahood-s-bipartisan-legislation-to-reform-child-welfare-and-protect-america-s-children-passes-unanimously-out-of-the-ways-means-committee", "ICYMI: LaHood's Bipartisan Legislation to Reform Child Welfare and Protect America\u2019s Children Passes Unanimously Out of the Ways & Means Committee", "2024-07-25", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "House", "IL", "Darin LaHood", "L000585", "lahood.house.gov", "lahood", "https://lahood.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced Work and Welfare Subcommittee Chairman Darin LaHood's (IL-16) Protecting America\u2019s Children by Strengthening Families Act (H.R. 9076) unanimously out of the Committee. LaHood introduced the legislation with Rep. Danny Davis (IL-07)\n\nThe bipartisan, commonsense package reauthorizes Title IV-B for the first time since 2021 and delivers the first significant reforms since 2008. With approximately 369,000 children currently in foster care, this legislation offers vital assistance to help strengthen and keep families together and support the safety and well-being of children in foster care.\n\nThe Protecting America\u2019s Children by Strengthening Families Act encompasses policies from 16 different pieces of legislation from both Republican and Democrat members of the Ways and Means Committee. It follows the Committee\u2019s extensive, year-long review of the nation\u2019s child welfare programs to identify areas where these programs could better serve children and families.\n\nLaHood's remarks prepared for delivery can be viewed here and read below:\n\n\"Thank you, Chairman Smith for bringing this important bipartisan bill before the Committee.\n\nAs Chairman of the Work and Welfare Subcommittee, I am proud to have introduced the \"Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act\" alongside my fellow Illinoisan and Ranking Member, Danny Davis, to reauthorize and improve the Title IV-B program.\n\nI\u2019m pleased we are able to take a moment to consider this bipartisan legislation that demonstrates our joint commitment to supporting vulnerable children and parents.\n\nTitle IV-B is one of several child welfare programs overseen by this Committee and plays a pivotal role in family preservation and providing flexible funding to states and tribes to promote the safety, permanence, and well-being of children in foster care.\n\nIt is our Committee\u2019s responsibility to review and update programs within our jurisdiction -- many of which were created decades ago -- to meet challenges facing families today.\n\nWe took that responsibility seriously. This bill represents the most significant reform to Title IV-B since 1993.\n\nAfter a year-long investigation and three hearings to learn from stakeholders, parents, administrators, and former foster youth, we have been able to come to together to develop a bill that will strengthen the child welfare system and better support families.\n\nNineteen (19) members of this Committee, from both sides of the aisle, introduced bills to improve IV-B and those reforms are the foundation of what we are marking up today.\n\nThis is how Congress should work. This is the process of functional governing.\n\nGood governance means ensuring government programs are meeting today\u2019s needs and that we are maximizing the impact of taxpayer dollars. It also means mediating different interests to achieve progress on issues that are of common concern.\n\nThe well-being and safety of America\u2019s children and struggling families is certainly an area of common interest for both Democrats and Republicans.\n\nThe \"Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act\" reauthorizes Title IV-B for five years and makes several important reforms.\n\nThis bill will\n\nSave taxpayer dollars through early intervention to keep families together whenever possible and reduce the need for foster care;\n\nRemove ineffective requirements and ensure states are accountable for matching federal funds;\n\nFree-up more time for states and caseworkers to focus on families by requiring HHS to reduce administrative burden by 15 percent;\n\nExpand access for tribal communities by streamlining funding;\n\nBuild support systems for the 2.5 million grandparents and relatives serving as kinship caregivers; and\n\nStrengthen post-adoption services to ensure children waiting for adoption find stable, loving homes.\n\nI am particularly thankful to Ranking Member Davis for highlighting the unique challenges faced by children in foster care with incarcerated parents.\n\nThis bill authorizes demonstration projects to find ways to preserve family bonds and ensure relationships are not severed permanently through times of acute crisis.\n\nFinally, I want to thank the members of this Committee for your shared dedication and leadership that have gotten us here today.\n\nThis bill has been endorsed by more than 30 organizations, including our county, state and tribal partners, as well as organizations representing former foster youth and families with lived experience.\n\nWe have a unique opportunity to reauthorize the Title IV-B program, while maintaining the flexibility that states rely on.\n\nI urge my colleagues to support H.R. 9076 and I yield back.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lahood.house.gov/2024/7/icymi-lahood-s-bipartisan-legislation-to-reform-child-welfare-and-protect-america-s-children-passes-unanimously-out-of-the-ways-means-committee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1722669005393982, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}