The focus of this hearing is to review Federal and State oversight of child welfare programs and systems designed to prevent abuse and neglect of children, including those under State protection. The purpose being to provide subcommittee representatives the opportunity to learn what Federal, State, and local officials should be doing to ensure that children are in safe, loving environments. Oral testimony at this hearing is both invited and public witnesses. Invited witnesses include Federal and State officials and other experts familiar with child welfare programs. This document commences with Advisory of January 21, 2004, announcing the hearing. Testimonies from the following witnesses are then provided: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Honorable Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Children and Families; and U.S. General Accounting Office, Cornelia M. Ashby, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues. Additional testimonies are provided by witnesses: Alliance for Children and Families, Curtis C. Mooney; Association on American Indian Affairs, Jack F. Trope; Thomas C. Atwood, National Council For Adoption; William C. Bell, New York City Administration for Children's Services; Shay Bilchik, Child Welfare League of America; Thomas L. Birch, National Child Abuse Coalition; Cathy Burge, Naples, Florida; Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New York, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan; Honorable William Frenzel, Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care; Lisa E. Gladwell, River Edge, New Jersey; Courteney Anne Holden, Voice For Adoption; Home School Legal Defense Association, Christopher J. Klicka; Iowa Department of Human Services, Division of Behavioral, Developmental, and Protective Services for Families, Adults, and Children, Mary J. Nelson; National Association of Foster Care Reviewers, Bill Stanton; Marie C. O'Hara, Barnegat, New Jersey; Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Office of Children, Youth, and Families, Wayne T. Stevenson. Submissions for the record are then provided by: Edith J. Beauchamp, Greenbelt, Maryland; Patricia de Santos, Claremont, California; Judith G. Evans-Baxter, Pompano Beach, Florida; and Voice Application Specialists International, Inc., Woodstock, Georgia, Maricriz Nolan.