Grassley, Landrieu Host Briefing on Older Youth in Foster Care

Press Release

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley,( R-Iowa), and Mary Landrieu, (D-La.), co-Chairs of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, hosted an event for Congressional members and the child welfare community to acknowledge the needs of the 29,000 young people who "age out" of foster care each year without permanent families. The briefing highlighted policy recommendations in areas such as: employment, housing, financial security, education, mentoring and permanency, to improve the experiences and outcomes of youth in foster care. The panelists included researchers, child welfare experts, and alumni of the foster care system.

"May is designated as National Foster Care Month and provides us with the opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges that children in the foster care system, particularly older youth, face," said Sen. Landrieu. "In Congress we have the chance, each and every day to use legislation to improve the lives of youth in care. We don't have to wait to pass one big foster care bill. We need to breakdown the silos that separate foster youth issues and include provisions that impact foster youth in all relevant bills. "

"Children in foster care don't have highly paid 'K' street lobbyists advancing their cause," Sen. Grassley said. "To move forward with legislation, Congress needs to hear ideas and opinions directly from the community. Information sessions such as the one we just had offer us the opportunity to learn what we need to do to move forward so that no child is ever without a permanent and loving home, and that foster youth have a smooth transition out of the system."

In coordination with the briefing on older foster youth, Senators Landrieu and Grassley introduced the first ever, Senate Resolution on National Foster Care Month. The measure, which was introduced with bipartisan support, encourages Congress to implement sound policy to improve the lives of the almost 500,000 children in the foster care system.

Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Carl Levin (D-MI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Mark Begich (D-AK), John Kerry (D-MA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Susan Collins (R- ME), Olympia Snowe (R - ME), Evan Bayh (D- IN), Al Franken (D- MN) Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Nelson (D-NE ), Robert Casey (D-PA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Specter (D-PA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) co-sponsored the resolution.

A full copy of the resolution can be found by visiting: http://landrieu.senate.gov/mediacenter/upload/10.05.13_Resolution.pdf

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