Public Policy & Legislation

Why it matters to young people:

• $400 million to aid young people during the pandemic, delivered through the Chafee program.

FosterClub's role:

• FosterClub was first to survey young people when the pandemic hit, recognizing the struggle transition age-youth were facing. 
• FosterClub led the #UpChafee campaign effort
• supported the implementation once funding was provided to States.

Why it matters to young people:

• Now requires that states extend Medicaid coverage to all former foster youth, including those who were in care in another state.

FosterClub's role:

• FosterClub LEx leaders educated Congressional members, including speaking at briefings about the impact of not having health coverage.

Why it matters to young people:

• Federal funds now prioritize preventing foster care entries, emphasizing mental health, substance use, and parenting support.
• Concentration on suitable placements, reducing unnecessary group care.
• Chafee program broadened to cater to younger youth, with an emphasis on lasting bonds and permanency.

FosterClub's role:

• FosterClub and LEx leaders mobilized for years educating policymakers about why prevention was necessary, how inappropriate group care harms young people, and the need to expand support for transition age youth. 
• Priorities from the National Policy Council informed lawmakers on the urgency of addressing these needs. 
• FosterClub, along with national partners, established FamilyFirstAct.org to center resources and voices from lived experience for implementation. 

Why it matters to young people:

• Requires child welfare agencies, courts, and local education agencies to work together and use data to ensure that there are minimal interruptions to a child's learning, which often means that children and youth entering foster care remain in the same school.

FosterClub's role:

• FosterClub coordinated a group of California Youth Ambassadors to uplift the challenges and supports students in foster care need to succeed.

Why it matters to young people:

• The law champions foster youth rights by ensuring knowledge of their rights, access to essential documents, transition planning from age 14, and promoting normalcy through activities like sports and field trips.
• Foster care mandates include reporting missing children to law enforcement within 24 hours, ensuring they have vital documents like birth certificates and IDs, and upholding prudent parenting standards for foster parents.This includes policies for rapid location of runaway youth, understanding reasons for their absence, and screening for potential trafficking victims.

FosterClub's role:

• FosterClub supported the National Policy Council in shifting the public focus from only supporting trafficked youth to also proactive prevention. The Council highlighted the need for young people to know their rights while in care.

Why it matters to young people:

Includes Foster Youth Provision, which extends Medicaid coverage to former foster youth (FFY) until age 26

FosterClub's role:

When Congress made it a requirement that young people could stay on their parents' health insurance policy until age 26, Lived Experience Leaders from FosterClub told Congress that young people from foster care should be allowed to stay on Medicaid (since the government had taken on parent responsibilities for them).

Why it matters to young people:

• Enhanced outcomes for youth in care and foster care adoptions by:
• Allocating federal funds to ensure Native youth stay within their communities.
• Advocating for sibling unity in placements.
• Strengthening support for relative caregivers, particularly legal guardians, and enhancing adoption incentives with mandatory transition planning.

FosterClub's role:

• FosterClub and LEx Leaders educated policymakers on the need to reduce unnecessary time spent in foster care and ensure youth had connections to siblings, tribes, communities and families.

Why it matters to young people:

• Provides funds + attention  to establish support transition to adulthood. 
• Creates requirements about reporting National Youth in Transition Database information. It expanded opportunities for programs providing education, training, and employment services; counseling; housing assistance and financial support; and other services for foster youth to prepare for living on their own and to achieve self-sufficiency.  Established what the Chafee program and emphasized permanency 
• States use their Chafee funds differently for things like room + board, educational assistance, career exploration, mentoring, and preventive health activities.
• Supporting older youth in foster care. Eligibility–people who were in foster care from 14-21, people who aged out, people who left foster care after age 16. It also emphasized permanency by requiring the continuation of efforts to find a permanent placement while concurrently providing independent living activities and increasing funding for adoption incentive payments. 

FosterClub's role:

• While this legislation passed before FosterClub, a small handful of young people from foster care provided critical testimony and advocacy that resulted in the passage of this legislation.