Dan Coats: “each year, scores of abused, neglected, and abandoned children are herded into the world of child protection to be cared…”

“each year, scores of abused, neglected, and abandoned children are herded into the world of child protection to be cared for by strangers. For many of these children, foster care will be a refuge, for others, a nightmare. Being separated from a parent is never easy, but we can make the transition smoother by looking to relatives when a child must be removed from his home. And so I wish, with my colleague from Oregon, to introduce the kinship care amendment. This amendment encourages States to use adult relatives as the preferred placement option for children separated from their parents. We are introducing this amendment because we feel strongly that if a child has to be separated from their parents for a period of time, that separation should be as smooth as possible. Kinship care is a time honored tradition in most cultures. Care of children by kin is strongly tied to family preservation. These relationships may stabilize family situations, ensure the protection of children, and prevent the need to separate children from their parents and place them in a formal foster care arrangement within the child welfare system. Yet, rather than encourage relative or kinship care some States have made it increasingly difficult for relatives to provide care for their own.”