08-R367

2008 -- H 8156

Enacted 07/05/08

J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N

IN SUPPORT OF A WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN 2010

Introduced By: Representatives E Coderre, Giannini, Lima, Williams, and Naughton

Date Introduced: April 09, 2008

     WHEREAS, Many children in the United States face serious challenges including an

estimated 3,000,000 reports of child abuse and neglect and nearly 900,000 children are

substantiated as abused and neglected each year; and

     WHEREAS, More than 500,000 children and youth will be in foster care at the end of the

federal fiscal year and nearly 800,000 spend at least some time in care throughout the year; and

     WHEREAS, While 50,000 children are adopted from the public child welfare system

each year, more than 117,000 children are waiting to be adopted; and

     WHEREAS, Each year approximately 22,000 youth leave the foster care system not

because they have found a permanent family, but because they have reached the age at which the

foster care assistance ends; and

     WHEREAS, There is an over-representation of certain populations including Native

Americans and African Americans within the child welfare system; and

     WHEREAS, The number of children being raised by grandparents and other relatives is

increasing and should be encouraged, and the federal government recognizes through federal law

that kinship care is an important permanency and placement option for many children; and

     WHEREAS, The state courts are key decision makers in the lives of children involved in

the child welfare system and should be supported, and that these decisions may include

determination of abuse or neglect, whether a child should be reunified with his or her family, or

should be adopted or placed in another setting; and

     WHEREAS, The child welfare system includes a professional workforce in the courts,

public and private child welfare agencies, mental health and health care programs, education

settings, and citizen review panels, and volunteers such as the Court Appointed Special

Advocates, which should be strengthened; and

     WHEREAS, The challenge of child abuse cannot be effectively addressed in a sustained

manner until the nation addresses the outcomes for children in a comprehensive way; and

     WHEREAS, The White House Conference on Children and Youth had been the oldest

White House Conference starting in 1909 and continuing every ten years until the last Conference

in 1970; and

     WHEREAS, These Conferences had resulted in significant policies over the decades

including creation of Children's Bureau, standards of care for children, and had focused attention

on critical needs of America's children; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That the Rhode Island General Assembly urges the United States Congress

to authorize and the next President to call a White House Conference on Children and Youth to

be held in 2010; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Rhode Island General Assembly calls for this event to begin in

2009 with a series of state and local conferences to address the nation's child welfare system and

to focus the nation's attention on creating better outcomes for all children of the United States;

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation and

the President of the United States.

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LC02696

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