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Reform Child Welfare Financing: Resource Parents Stepping Up to Help Kids
Please join resource parents from all over Pennsylvania and sign-on to this letter to the legislature urging them to pass child welfare financing reform with this state budget. Some legislators say kids can wait till the fall or for another year. Resource parents know better. One the primary goals of this legislation is to place more children in foster care homes and reduce the number of children who live in group homes and institutions. We need your help today to make this happen.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Enact child welfare financing reform now
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As resource parents who care for Pennsylvania's children in foster care on a daily basis we respectfully urge you to enact child welfare finance reform with the state budget.
The Department of Public Welfare shared a proposal with you to change child welfare financing in a revenue neutral manner. It will increase state support to counties for certain evidence and community-based services that strengthen families and keep children out of foster care. It will also make sure that when children do come into foster care that more of them are living in resource family or foster homes. Nearly 25 percent of children in foster care in Pennsylvania many are currently placed in costly group homes and institutions. This far exceeds the national average.
As resource parents, we know that children generally fare better when placed in homes with parents like us, as compared to placing children in group homes and institutions. Research bears this out by showing that children have more positive outcomes in family-based settings than in congregate care. For example, children have higher levels of education, less alcohol and drug abuse problems, less dependency on public assistance and more.
As you enter final budget negotiations, we ask that you enact the child welfare finance reform proposal. It will help strengthen families and improve outcomes for children in the foster care system. The proposal will support counties' efforts to place more children with families and increase reimbursement for in-home and community-based services that resource parents like us rely on to meet the needs of the children who are placed in our homes.
There is no reason to halt or delay enactment of the reform proposal. The children cannot wait for better outcomes that this proposal will incentivize. The proposal must be enacted with the state budget.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
Signed by:
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