Senator Ben Nelson's Statment for National Foster Care Month

May 22, 2008

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I rise today, during National Foster Care Month, to speak for the more than a half million children living in foster care across the United States who are waiting for a loving family to adopt them.

I encourage potential parents throughout our country to open their hearts, their lives and their homes to these vulnerable children and provide them with the safe, permanent families that all children deserve. As an adoptive parent myself, I know first-hand the joy and fulfillment adoption can bring to a family, and I cannot think of a more perfect gift to give a child than the love, nurturing, and protection they need to grow.

A sense of stability is critical to the development of children. Yet, young children in foster care never know how long they will stay in one place or where they will be sent off to next, resulting in a frightening lack of consistency and security.

I recently had the chance to meet with Aaron Weaver, a young man from Nebraska, who shared with me some of his experiences in the foster care system: ``Growing up in foster care , a tattered yellow vinyl suitcase always accompanied me, as I switched families, rules and routines,'' he said.

I hated that suitcase. It was a constant reminder of how unstable my life was, and how every day was uncertain.

Fortunately, after 6 years in Nebraska's foster care system, Aaron was finally adopted. Adoption for him meant a family who gave him unconditional love. Adoption meant the end of packing his suitcase, wondering where he would be placed next. Adoption gave him, for the first time, the freedom and confidence to think about his future not in terms of where he would be sleeping next month, but in terms of what his goals were and where he wanted to go in life.

In 2005, just 10 percent of Nebraska's foster care children were lucky enough to be adopted into new families like Aaron's, leaving nearly a thousand more waiting eagerly for adoptive homes. Unfortunately, any chance of these children being placed with adoptive parents becomes worse the longer they remain in foster care . In fact, when a child reaches the 8- to 9-year age range, the probability that child will continue to wait in foster care exceeds the probability that he or she will be adopted; and the number of children in this older age group is growing.

The Adoption Incentive Program, a Federal program first enacted into law as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, is up for reauthorization this year. This important program encourages State governments to find permanent homes for foster children through adoption by rewarding those States which have increased their number of placements. Additionally, the program provides special incentives to focus on finding homes for older foster children and those with special needs. I am proud to report that, through this program, my home State of Nebraska was awarded $1,392,000 between 2000 and 2006 for finding adoptive families for 2,483 children, money which will be reinvested to make this number even greater.

I believe we have a responsibility to help foster children in Nebraska and across the Nation join loving, permanent adoptive families such as Aaron's. I hope all of you agree and will join me in my commitment to improving America's foster care system.