Feb 17, 2008 2 min read

The state Senate Democratic Policy Committee will hold a hearing in Pittsburgh on improving the state’s foster care system on Thursday. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse.

“The past is tragically rife with accounts of unspeakable abuse, neglect and foster children slipping through cracks in the system,” said Sen. Richard A. Kasunic, D-Dunbar, the committee chairman. “It is our obligation to provide foster children with the best possible chance of emerging from the system prepared to become responsible and productive members of our society.

Kasunic said the Pittsburgh hearing is being held at the request of state Sen. LeAnna Washington, D-Philadelphia, who said Allegheny County has one of the most effective and efficient foster care systems in the nation.

Washington introduced the Senate version (Senate Bill 1147) of legislation that requires FBI clearance background checks for those applying to be foster or adoptive parents; anyone seeking to work in child-care services; self-employed child-care providers; and anyone over the age of 18 living in the home where a foster or adopted child resides. The proposal was enacted as Act 73 of 2007.

Kasunic said the committee would focus on foster care issues ranging from criteria for placement, foster parent eligibility, agency accountability and seeking ways to prevent problems that ensue when children age out of the system.

“The sad truth is that these kids who ‘age out’ of the foster system too often end up in hopeless situations and turn to crime or drugs because they have nowhere to live, and no one willing to help or counsel them as they struggle to support themselves,” Kasunic said. “Apart from the devastating impact it has on their own lives, it ends up costing taxpayers dearly in the form of increased crime, welfare and incarceration costs.”

Expected to testify at the two-hour hearing are officials from the county human services office, children’s court and a private foster care provider.