This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Amid the political polarization of a presidential election year, bipartisan legislation is hard to come by. But true to form, Sen. Orrin Hatch has managed to transcend Washington gridlock to forge consensus on an issue that concerns Democrats and Republicans alike: improving the quality of our nation's foster care system to better serve society.
By introducing the Family First Prevention Services Act, Hatch has brought together lawmakers of all political stripes to advance a commonsense proposal that protects children and keeps families intact. Perhaps most importantly, Hatch's bill gives states the tools we need to improve preventative services that keep more children safe and out of the foster care system.
Expanding family access to preventative services is key to fixing our nation's foster care system. Research shows that providing a safe environment for children in their homes is far less costly and traumatic than separating children from their families through foster care. Instead of taking kids away from their families, preventative services focus on helping parents and relatives safely care for their children at home. Some of the most effective prevention efforts involve placements with extended family who work with trained counselors and therapists. This approach has proven to reduce dependence on expensive government programs while improving the outcomes for the child.
Utah has led the way in developing preventative services that are an effective, affordable alternative to foster care. Our state's most innovative program is HomeWorks. In just three short years, HomeWorks has healed thousands of fractured families and helped keep hundreds of children out of foster care. This dynamic program provides in-home services to parents, increasing the safety for their children, and resulting in the creation of healthy, loving environments where children can learn and grow.
Like foster care, HomeWorks focuses on protecting children and improving their well-being, but it does so at a fraction of the price. In fact, for the annual cost of helping one child in foster care, we can help up to 11 families through the HomeWorks program. And for the annual cost of helping one child in a residential group setting, we can help up to 34 families using preventative services. HomeWorks not only rehabilitates hundreds each year; it saves taxpayers thousands of dollars in the process.
I commend Hatch for bringing national attention to the HomeWorks program and for his efforts to replicate the success of this initiative on a federal level. Using state policies like HomeWorks as a blueprint, Hatch's foster care legislation places renewed emphasis on preventative services, allowing states to use federal funds to help struggling families find access to mental health counseling, substance abuse therapy, and in-home parent training programs.
In addition to strengthening preventative services, Hatch's proposal promotes in-home family solutions by ending incentives for states to place children in group homes and care facilities that are known to produce undesirable outcomes. For those already in the foster care system, this legislation provides competitive grants designed to recruit and retain good foster families that can provide a stable home for children in need.
Hatch's bill bolsters efforts to reform the foster care system right here in Utah. Our senior Senator deserves praise for advancing bipartisan legislation that will produce life-changing results for children and their families. I am grateful for his exemplary leadership on this issue.
Last August, Hatch convened a Senate Finance Committee hearing where he invited me to testify on the effectiveness of preventative services in keeping families together and children out of foster care. Before a group of several senators and their staff, I shared the words of poet Maya Angelou and related her thoughts to foster care reform: "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."
We have done the best we can to support children in the foster care system. But now we know better: We know that keeping families together is vital to a child's future success. We know that supporting safe care in a home setting is ultimately better for a child's life. Now that we know better, we can do better by urging members of Congress to support Hatch's Family First Prevention Services Act.
Ann S. Williamson is executive director of the Utah Department of Human Services.