Dave Camp: “I do not oppose the amendment but there are some additional considerations that should be taken into account. The…”

“I do not oppose the amendment but there are some additional considerations that should be taken into account. The committee has been very concerned about kinship care for several years. In many cases kinship care is an excellent response to a child's situation. But kinship care does come with great cost and there is reason to wonder if kinship care placements are always the best for children. We need more information about the reasons for kinship care, the characteristics of the kinship settings in which children are placed, and the impact those settings have on children's development. To get more information, we ask for a study in this legislation. Demonstrations of the type the gentlewoman from Maryland is seeking also have the potential to provide valuable information. The committee bill authorizes 5 new waiver demonstration projects, and why do we not require that at least one of those be addressed to kinship care?”