Testimony: Child & Family Services Agency Oversight (FY16)
Senior Policy Attorney Damon King testified before the DC Council’s Committee on Health and Human Services regarding the FY 2015 performance of the District’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). Many attorneys at Children’s Law Center serve as guardians ad litem for hundreds of children in foster care and represent foster parents and caregivers for children who are in or at risk of entering the District’s child welfare system.
Damon spent a great portion of his testimony discussing CFSA’s continued transition to serving children and families in their homes and communities, as well as important and positive work the agency has done to better address the needs of teenagers and young adults moving through and out of the foster care system. Prior to this discussion, however, he addressed an event that persisted through much of 2015 and affected the experiences of many foster children for whom CFSA is directly responsible: A shortage of available foster homes, which led the agency to use hotels and its own office to house children in its care.
Click below to read his full testimony.