From The Annie E. Casey Foundation:
Youth and young adults in foster care yearn for and deserve lifelong families and supportive environments where they are nurtured and encouraged as they grow into adulthood. Unfortunately, for many youth and young adults who enter foster care, their experiences often create additional trauma and fall short of ensuring their safety, well-being and family stability. This is particularly true for youth of color who are twice as likely as white children to be separated from their families and enter foster care, who spend more time in such care and who are more likely to age out of it without achieving permanence. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these hardships and disparities.
With leadership from youth and young adults who have experienced foster care, The Annie E. Casey Foundation has just released a pressing policy brief, From COVID-19 Response to Comprehensive Change: Policy Reforms to Equip Youth and Young Adults in Foster Care to Thrive, which highlights historical federal child welfare policy achievements and urges Congress to champion comprehensive reforms to eliminate harmful disparities that persist for youth of color and promote long-lasting benefits for all youth and young adults transitioning from foster care. There is urgency and an opportunity for Congress to lead reforms and build on the important, but temporary, changes mandated by the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation invites you to join us in lifting up these policy recommendations that can lead to greater awareness and drive meaningful change for youth and young adults who experience the foster care system.