[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 66 (Thursday, April 20, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E341-E342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING MS. CHRISTINE JAMES-BROWN ON HER RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT OF 
                  THE CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 20, 2023

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
exceptional service of Christine James-Brown, the President and Chief 
Executive Officer of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), who 
recently announced her retirement as President.
  CWLA is an outstanding organization that works to improve the quality 
and availability of child welfare and related services through 
standard-setting and advocacy. Ms. James-Brown began her tenure as 
President of CWLA in April 2007, assuming the leadership of the 
nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare 
organization. Ms. James-Brown has served as the eighth President of 
this 103-year-old organization. With more than sixteen years of 
service, she is the second-longest serving President of CWLA. Ms.

[[Page E342]]

James-Brown is a national leader in efforts to protect children and 
strengthen families, and she has led CWLA through historic 
accomplishments and challenging times.
  Ms. James-Brown led CWLA's advocacy efforts to help enact critical 
child welfare laws, including the Fostering Connections to Success and 
Promoting Adoptions Act of 2008 and the Family First Prevention 
Services Act of 2018. Her leadership continued CWLA's policy work in 
areas including kinship care, adoption and foster care services, 
prevention services, and residential care.
  Under Ms. James-Brown's leadership, CWLA worked with members and 
experts across the country during 2012 and 2013 to develop the CWLA 
National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare that presents a 
vision for the future of child welfare where all children grow up 
safely in loving families and supportive communities.
  Her service includes her work as a member of the Congressionally-
mandated National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine panel 
with the mission of making recommendations to reduce child poverty in 
half over ten years. I and other policymakers used those 
recommendations and the science behind them to champion legislation 
that helped reduce child poverty during the global pandemic.
  During her tenure, Ms. James-Brown helped CWLA continue its 
leadership and engagement of its network of public and private agencies 
and partners to advance policies, best practices, and collaborative 
strategies that result in better outcomes for children, youth, and 
families. She led the organization through 16 national conferences, 
including a celebration of 90 years in 2010 and a virtual conference 
during the pandemic on the organization's 100th anniversary
  I join with members of the Child Welfare League of America and the 
child welfare community to thank Ms. Christine James-Brown for her 
exceptional service to the children and families of our nation and to 
wish her health and happiness in her well-deserved retirement.

                          ____________________