My Congressman, Tom DeLay, is one of the most maligned men in Washington. I genuinely believe that most of the attacks are based no blind hatred, not actual evidence of substantive wrong-doing. You may disagree.

That said, I would like to remind folks that there is another side to Tom DeLay, one that comes out of what is an undeniably decent part of the this many's character. Tom DeLay has a long-time commitment to the welfare of children in the foster care and adoption system.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay today opened a privately financed project touted as an innovative way of giving abused and neglected children a stable foster home environment.

"There is no other place in the entire country that does what we're trying to do," the Republican said of the project. "And we hope to take this as a model around the country because the foster care system in every state has problems that need to be dealt with."

Some folks, of course, cannot help but find something shady in the project because the facility has been built by Perry Homes, which is owned by Swift Vet's backer Bob Perry. But given that Perry operates one of the largest residential builders in Houston (I believe the largest, but I'm not sure), that should not come as a surprise. It is just one more baseless attack.

Anyway, about the facility.

The first phase of the project, costing about $8 million, consists of eight seven-bedroom homes, a gym and a chapel. Each of the houses will serve as a home for six foster children, plus their foster parents. A second phase will add 24 homes and boost the investment to $25 million, all from private sources, he said.

In other words, nearly fifty kids now have a good foster placement as a result of this project. Another 144 will eventually be a part of the program. This is not something out of the ordinary for Congressman DeLay -- he has been active in adoption and foster care issues for many years on a personal level, and has been a leader on the issue in Congress.

DeLay, though, gives much of the credit to his wife.

DeLay credited his wife, Christine, a former teacher who years ago became a court-appointed special advocate for foster children, with the idea. He said they realized through taking in three foster children that the system needed help.

As you see, this is not some "for public consumption" project for the DeLays. Rather, it is a part of their way of life.

Well Done, Tom and Christine, and all of those involved in this new endeavor.

UPDATE: Well, the Houston Chronicle finally got around to telling us about the facility in a separate article. I guess that some folks at the paper finally realized the the original article was a hit-piece on DeLay that ignored the important story -- the one about the kids and the program.

Christine DeLay said foster children often feel like outsiders in their neighborhoods because they have different names than their foster parents.

"It (Rio Bend) is just like a regular neighborhood, there is one big difference, everybody on the street and the streets to come will be foster parents," she said.

Rio Bend is on the north side of Richmond on 50 acres of land donated by the George Foundation, a philanthropic group.

The foster children, who will attend public schools, will remain in a Rio Bend home from the time a court removes them from their parents until they can return to their parents or are adopted.

DeLay said foster children often are forced to move from home to home, an experience that can leave emotional scars for years.

The first phase of the $7.2 million project consists of eight 4,600-square-foot homes.

Rio Bend administrator Margaret Gow said the second phase will add another 24 houses to the site, which also has playgrounds, athletic fields, a chapel and a swimming pool. When completed, the entire cost of the project will be about $20 million.

Each house has space for six foster children and the foster parents. There is also a room for a nanny and a small apartment for the parents and their biological children.

There are guest quarters on the site for foster children who have turned 18 and are no longer in the care of the state.

The parents will pay $450 a month rent.

Lutheran Social Services of the South will be responsible for administering the day-to-day activities of Rio Bend such as interviewing, training and supervising foster parents.

Posted by: Greg at 05:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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