September 21, 2021

YLC Releases New Report Urging Congress to Prevent Devastating Outcomes for Youth Exiting Foster Care

In less than ten days, thousands of young people across the nation are at risk of aging out of foster care and being cut off from supports and services. YLC has released a new report today, in partnership with Think of Us, urging Congress to act immediately to extend all provisions of Division X of the Consolidated Appropriations Act until September 30, 2022, and to increase funding for youth with experience in foster care. This report gathered information from child welfare agency leaders, stakeholders, and youth and found that it is critical to extend the deadlines and flexibilities of the law. Click here to view the full report.
“We have a moral and legal imperative to act both in the short term to respond to the current crisis facing youth, and in the long term to reform our approach to ensure youth in foster care transitioning to adulthood have the relationships, community, resources and opportunities they need to survive the next crisis. We have failed our youth, particularly the youth who most need our support: Black youth and youth of color, expectant and parenting youth, and youth with disabilities – and those failures have had devastating consequences on the lives of youth we pledged to care for.” – Jennifer Rodriguez, YLC Executive Director