Political Quotes

“I believe this is extraordinarily important legislation and addresses in an overdue, albeit ultimately very important way, I think, the pendulum that the State, that we have to deal with, as we wrestle with dysfunctional families and the children of those families. The 1980 Child Welfare Act clearly made the priority reunification of families. Obviously that is a critical goal and one that is appropriately sought out through our child welfare processes. But it certainly is not the only priority or necessarily the overriding priority. I think the overriding priority has to be the best interest of the child, what is in the best interests of the children of these families, and I think sometimes under the 1980 legislation that has been relegated to a secondary status. We can all agree that there ought to be no higher priority than the health and safety of children, the children of these families. So, as this act before us does, putting that as the clear priority, overriding the unification of families, if there is even an issue that the health or safety of the child might be threatened by reunification is a very important step to take.”