WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES HEARINGS ON STATE’S FOSTER CARE SYSTEM

            HARRISBURG, October 31 - State Sen. LeAnna M. Washington (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) announced today that she will hold statewide hearings on the state’s foster care system beginning Nov. 14 in Harrisburg.

“I have growing concerns about children in our foster care system,” Washington said.  “We are removing children from their homes and, in all too many instances, placing them in greater jeopardy of death and/or injury.  We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening to our children.”

The hearings will be held under the auspices of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.  Sen. Washington is the Democratic chair of the Senate Aging and Youth committee.

Washington said the public is aware of the problems in Philadelphia’s child welfare system from newspaper accounts of child deaths in local foster homes.

“Unfortunately, the foster care system in Pennsylvania and across the nation is in a state of tumult,” Washington said.  “My major concern is that the system is not protecting our children from abuse and I do not know if we can ensure the safety of children in the system.”

Washington said the committee will explore a number of issues at the Nov. 14 hearing.

“We know that those children who ‘age out’ of the system at 18 years of age are almost 30 percent of the youth homeless population and a disturbing number graduate to the criminal justice system,” Washington said. “We are failing these children.”

Washington said she is also disturbed about the “trash bag” phenomenon utilized at many county and private agencies.  

”What are we saying to our children who, through no fault of their own, end up in foster care and are moved from home to home carrying their worldly possession in trash bags?” Washington asked.  “We cannot overlook the damage this does to them.  We are killing their spirit.  It is humiliating.  We must say, ‘Enough!’”

Washington said the Senate panel will also look for reasons why a significant number of children still remain in foster care beyond the federally recommended 18 months maximum. 

“Too many children spend their entire childhood in foster care,” Washington said. “They are not returned home and they are not adopted.  That is not the way it is supposed to work and we need answers.”