Every child deserves a chance to thrive, and as leaders, it is our responsibility to develop policies that help families provide the safety, stability and support needed to give them that chance. By putting our children on a path to success, we strengthen families, vitalize communities and secure the future of our nation.

In an overwhelming display of bipartisan unity, Congress late last year passed — and President Joe Biden signed into law — the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act, our bill that takes a critical step forward for improving child welfare in the United States.

This act, which incorporates policies from 16 pieces of legislation from both Republicans and Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee, represents the most comprehensive reauthorization and modernization of Title IV-B of the Social Security Act in more than 15 years.

It directly addresses the critical needs of the approximately 370,000 children currently in foster care and countless families at risk of separation. At its core, this act reflects a shared commitment by Republicans and Democrats alike to enact federal policy strengthening families, supporting caregivers, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a safe and loving home.

The Supporting America’s Children and Families Act reauthorizes vital child welfare programs through 2029, providing critical funding for services that assist children and families in need. Estimates indicate that Illinois will receive a 15% increase — or just under $2 million — in guaranteed funds for the Marylee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families program thanks to the new law. It modernizes the system to focus resources on the most effective ways to prevent family separation and reduce the amount of time children spend in foster care.

One of the key provisions of the act is its support for kinship caregivers, such as grandparents or extended family members, who step in to care for children when their parents cannot. In Illinois, about 85,000 children are raised by their kin, with about 9,300 children in foster care living with relatives. The act appreciates the invaluable role these caregivers play and provides resources to help them create stable and nurturing environments. By supporting evidence-based prevention services, the act works to keep families together whenever safe and possible and to avoid separating children from parents solely due to poverty.

The bill also expands access to regional grants that have demonstrated results in helping parents overcome substance use to safely care for their children, grants that currently benefit 10 Illinois counties. Additionally, it expands resources for youth aging out of foster care, offering them the support needed to transition to adulthood and the tools to build successful futures.

We further celebrate that the act implements new projects from our PARENT Act aimed at fostering stronger relationships between incarcerated parents and their children in foster care. Each year, approximately 6% of youths enter foster care due to parental incarceration. Recognizing the importance of maintaining familial bonds, these projects seek to mitigate the trauma of separation and promote long-term stability for children and families.

The bipartisan commitment of the Ways and Means Work and Welfare Subcommittee has been instrumental in driving this product through the legislative process. During the last Congress, the subcommittee held 10 hearings, highlighting myriad key topics in the subcommittee’s jurisdiction, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, kinship care, child support enforcement, unemployment insurance, and support of youths aging out of the foster care system.

Last April, the subcommittee took its work outside of Washington and held a field hearing titled “The Dignity of Work” at Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, where witnesses highlighted the value of work in lifting individuals and families out of poverty and the important role that wraparound support can have in helping individuals overcome barriers.

This was the first-ever House committee hearing held in a homeless shelter. We share a goal to support work to help individuals escape poverty to promote community and social connectedness and stability. As proud Illinoisans, we were honored to showcase to our Washington colleagues what Midwest sensibility can achieve, and our visits to Project HOOD and Pacific Garden served as a reminder to us all how our civic duty affects real individuals and families. This collaborative spirit served as a driving force behind our efforts to ensure that child welfare policies prioritize family and economic well-being.

As the primary sponsors of the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act, we are immensely proud of the bipartisan collaboration that brought it to fruition. This law reflects what we heard from listening to the lived experience of youths, families and advocates to understand what policies were needed and how we could make meaningful change, and it is a testament to what can be achieved when we put aside partisan differences and focus on the needs of America’s most vulnerable.

Our work is far from over, but this law is a significant step forward — one that we hope will serve as a model for good-faith collaboration in the new Congress for the well-being of children and families across the nation.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our colleagues in Congress, child welfare advocates and the nearly 230 organizations that supported this effort. Together, we can continue to make progress in building a future in which every child in America has the chance to grow up in a safe, loving and supportive environment.

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U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, and Danny K. Davis, D-Chicago, serve as chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare.

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