Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

 

The bill contains a provision championed by Rep. Cardoza to extend Medicaid coverage to foster children until they turn 21 years old. These benefits currently expire when foster children turn 18, removing an important support structure just as children leave the foster care system and must support themselves.  Cardoza had previously introduced his own legislation to extend Medicaid coverage and this bill adopts many of his proposals.

 

HR 6307 passed the House with unanimous support and will next be considered in the Senate. Below are Congressman Cardoza’s remarks on the House floor today.

 

I rise in support of H.R. 6307, the Fostering Connections to Success Act. 

Many of my colleagues already know I care deeply about foster care, in part because eight years ago, my wife and I adopted two of our children from foster care.

We didn’t know much about foster care back then, but now we are intimately familiar with the plight of foster children in America.

These children who come into foster care through no fault of their own—face a number of inequalities compared to children who have not endured the type of abuse that typically places a child in foster care. While foster parents receive federal assistance to care for foster children in their home, family members-many of whom would willingly care for their nieces and nephews if only they had a little help to do so, are denied foster care payments. This legislation will end that misguided policy and provide that assistance to family members.

 

While biological children count on the health insurance policies of their parents until the age of 25, foster children’s health coverage is terminated on the night of their 18^th birthday. I want to believe all children are self-sufficient the day they turn 18, but as a father, I know better than that.

 

Earlier this year I introduced legislation that would require healthcare coverage for children in foster care until the age of 21. Chairman McDermott lent his support for my bill and I understand there is a similar provision in his bill to provide states with the option of extending health coverage. I hope that ALL states will exercise this option because parents don’t walk out on their kids at 18 and neither should we.

Finally, this bill will improve the oversight of health care needs for children in foster care. My wife is a family doctor and she was taken aback by the lack of oversight in the medical treatment of foster kids. The committee heard testimony from foster children who have been over-prescribed or miss-prescribed numerous medications. It’s about time we raise the standards for continuity of health care, medical records, and prescription drugs—and this legislation will accomplish that.

I will continue to work with my colleagues and fight on behalf of abused and neglected children in America.  

 

I thank the gentleman for bringing this important bill to the floor and I yield back the balance of my time.