December 08, 1999
Mayor Williams Unveils New 'Safe Passages to Permanency' Initiative For Children in the District's Welfare System
(Washington, D.C.) - Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced today a new foster care and adoption initiative called Safe Passages to Permanency during a press conference at One Judiciary Square. The initiative is a government-supported campaign to increase adoption in the District and reduce the amount of time children spend in foster care before being placed in permanent homes.
"We are making a significant commitment to our city's children," Mayor Williams said. "It is time to reintegrate the oversight of the child welfare system back into the District of Columbia government, and it is time to bring our children home."
There are more than 3,300 children in the D.C. Foster care system, and about one third of these children have case plans for adoption. A recently released report requested by Williams, highlighted some of the problems of the District's child welfare system and made specific recommendations for improvement. One of the report's authors and the Mayor Williams' Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth and Families, Carolyn Graham, said the report was instrumental in initiating positive change and that the Mayor is supporting many of the report's recommendations.
"Addressing these serious problems and taking care of our children is an absolute priority for the Mayor," said Graham. "We have heard the voices of the children, foster parents, adoptive parents, social workers, and others who want to see the District take a stronger role in our child welfare system."
Among the specific tasks the Mayor calls for in the Safe Passages to Permanency initiative are additional social workers to handle more case loads, more lawyers to handle adoption cases, and a public awareness campaign to educate citizens about foster care and adoption options.
