The House of Representatives approved a bill on Tuesday that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) to help children in foster care find forever homes.
The Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children Act, H.R. 4472, would cut the amount of time required to place children in forever homes by incentivizing states to adopt the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE).
“As a parent to four young children, I know I speak for millions when I say that every child deserves to grow up in a stable, loving home,” Young said. “When the bond between parent and child has been broken, and children cannot safely return home, they deserve to be placed in the setting that is best for them regardless of whether that is a home within their state or across a state line.”
The average wait times for children in six states using a NEICE pilot program were reduced by 30 percent, which led to an average reduction of $1.6 million per year in administrative costs.
“For children who’ve spent hundreds of days caught in the child-welfare system, being shuffled in and out of temporary arrangements, (Tuesday’s) vote is proof that they matter and that we care enough to help,” Young said.” It demonstrates that compassionate public policy can be both Republican-led and fiscally responsible, while at the same time remain overwhelmingly bipartisan. By expanding evidenced-based policies like the NEICE system, this solution is common-sense, cost-effective, and rooted in my belief that when proven interventions to help our most vulnerable populations present themselves, we have a moral imperative to act.”