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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 22, 1999
Contact: Michael Kharfen (202) 401-9215
HHS APPROVES CHILD WELFARE DEMONSTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today approved a child welfare demonstration
project for the District of Columbia that will use a community-based
team approach to meet the needs of families in the child welfare system
and will allow kinship caregivers access to services not previously
available.
"This demonstration by the District provides an opportunity for
neighborhoods to work together to help families in crisis find and better
use the services they need," said Secretary Shalala. "Community
and public agency partnerships are an exciting approach to meeting the
needs for these families."
Under the demonstration, the District will use federal foster care
(Title IV-E) funds to hire a staff worker in each of four community
collaboratives. Each collaborative is composed of residents, agencies
and institutions that work together to help residents gain access to
an array of neighborhood social services, including housing, medical
care, child care, family counseling, literacy and parenting classes,
and financial support such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) and Social Security. By using these networks for children and
families in the child welfare system, the District hopes to increase
the number of children placed in permanent homes, decrease the number
of new foster care placements, and reduce the incidence of further abuse
and neglect.
"The Clinton administration has worked diligently to remove the
barriers to permanent placement for children in foster care," said
Olivia A. Golden, HHS assistant secretary for children and families.
"We hope this partnership will help ensure that children and families
in the District receive the care and services they need to achieve successful
outcomes."
The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 authorized HHS to approve
up to 10 demonstration projects each year through 2002. HHS has encouraged
states to develop innovative child welfare projects aimed at increasing
adoptions of special needs children, promoting community-based services
to prevent child abuse and neglect, improving access to needed health
and mental health services, and addressing the unique needs of American
Indian children. The District’s is the 20th waiver approved under
this authority.
The demonstration project will be cost-neutral, independently evaluated,
and last up to five years.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials
are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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