Nancy L. Johnson: “I welcome the Sabo amendment, because it does clarify a number of issues that are important for the conference to focus…”

“I welcome the Sabo amendment, because it does clarify a number of issues that are important for the conference to focus on. I personally worked very, very hard on the Medicaid provisions, and we need to assure that they are strong and will provide the kind of health care that children need. I personally feel that one of the important things for the conference, though, is not to be bound by the old thinking. When I hear the preceding speaker talk about children after the 5 years, I do not feel that she really sees what the impact of this plan is going to be. There are just so many opportunities from day 1 to provide day care, to get into job training, to use those day care dollars so effectively that women work in day care centers half the day and then they are in job training half the day, and from the very beginning, day 1, the whole family comes together to the family center and everybody begins growing, changing their future. So, I think there is enormous opportunity here. Michigan has done a great job with kinship groups. If you see you are going to have trouble, you can bring kinship groups into it, and the whole family, the larger family, needs to have the role here, have a role in planning the solution for this family. So, we need to be sure to be creative and not to cut off the kinds of initiatives that are going to develop. We do have that 20 percent protection.”