What the campaigns say about child placement issues

With less than a month to go and some people still having to make up there mind, I'd like to use the opportunity to present what the campaigns of the republican and the democrat candidates have to say about child placement.

The two campaigns address very different issues. The McCain campaign does not address foster care at all and the Obama campaign doesn't address adoption at all, so it is very difficult to weigh the campaigns based upon the issue of child placement.

Of course these are only proposals and the reality of a presidency is far too often based upon the issues that become important on a day to day basis. Many laws have been encouraged based upon an attrocity, such as Megan's law and Masha's law. Those were unforseen tragedies that induced laws that never were part of any presidential proposal.

For those still undecided and want to know what the two candidates want to achieve, here are the excerpts from the campaign websites of the two contenders:

McCain proposals:

Promoting Adoption

In 1993, John McCain and his wife, Cindy, adopted a little girl from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. She has been a blessing to the McCain family and helped make adoption advocacy a personal issue for the Senator.

The McCain family experience is not unique; millions of families have had their lives transformed by the adoption of a child. As president, motivated by his personal experience, John McCain will seek ways to promote adoption as a first option for women struggling with a crisis pregnancy. In the past, he cosponsored legislation to prohibit discrimination against families with adopted children, to provide adoption education, and to permit tax deductions for qualified adoption expenses, as well as to remove barriers to interracial and inter-ethnic adoptions.

Obama proposals:

Support Parents with Young Children

As president, Obama will expand the highly-successful Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers. The Nurse-Family Partnership provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families. The trained nurses use proven methods to help improve the mental and physical health of the family by providing counseling on substance abuse, creating and achieving personal goals, and effective methods of nurturing children. Proven benefits of these types of programs include improved women’s prenatal health, a reduction in childhood injuries, fewer unintended subsequent pregnancies, increased father involvement and women’s employment, reduced use of welfare and food stamps, and increased children’s school readiness. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis concluded that these programs produced an average of five dollars in savings for every dollar invested and produced more than $28,000 in net savings for every high-risk family enrolled in the program. The Obama plan would assist approximately 570,000 first-time mothers each year.

Support and Supplement Our Struggling Foster Care System

The foster care system is failing children who need help the most. Barack Obama and Joe Biden recognize that part of the solution is to increase the quantity of foster homes, improve training for foster parents and increase coordination between law enforcement and child welfare officials so that abuse can be stopped. Young adults graduating from foster care often have a rough time living independently. One study found that within two to four years only 54 percent had completed high school, less than half had jobs and 25 percent had experienced homelessness. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest in innovative new job training and workforce development programs that will provide those in foster care with the skills necessary to compete in the modern American workforce.

Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect

The tragedy of child abuse claims thousands of innocent lives each year, while ruining millions more. Moreover, it has been estimated that the direct cost to taxpayers of child protection and foster care is $20 billion, while another $100 billion is spent on issues related to child abuse, including crime, prisons, mental health, special education, medical care, and drug abuse. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are committed to preventing child abuse and supports proven and effective means to combat the tragedy of child abuse. There are nearly three million annual reports of child abuse and neglect.