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Washington D.C — Casey Family Programs praised today’s announcement by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Mary Landrieu of a new Senate Caucus on Foster Youth that will bring a more intense focus on better serving the nearly 500,000 children and young people in foster care.

Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Landrieu (D-La.) will co-chair the new Senate Caucus on Foster Youth. The caucus will serve as a clearinghouse on the latest research, effective policies and promising practices for improving the foster care system at the local, state and federal levels. In announcing the caucus, Sens. Grassley and Landrieu said it will focus on all foster care issues with a particular emphasis on the needs of older youth in foster care.

“This is a promising and exciting development,” said William C. Bell, president and CEO of Casey Family Programs. “Federal policymakers have a profound ability to help improve the lives of children and youth in the foster care system and strengthen families across the nation. This new caucus can bring a more intense focus on improving outcomes for youth currently in the foster care system and strengthening America’s response to our most vulnerable children, families and communities to prevent the placement many of the nearly 300,000 children who enter the system each year.”

Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest operating foundation focused exclusively on improving the foster care system, provides federal and state lawmakers with the nonpartisan research they need to make effective policy and financing decisions that improve the nation’s child welfare system.

The Seattle-based foundation is committed to its 2020 Strategy, a 15-year effort to safely reduce the need for foster care in the U.S. The goal is to safely reduce the number of children in foster care by 50 percent by working directly with state and county child welfare agencies to connect children with permanent families, reduce the amount of time children spend in foster care, and strengthen families to prevent the need for foster care in the first place.

Both Sen. Grassley and Sen. Landrieu have an impressive history of supporting efforts to improve child welfare in the U.S. Among many other accomplishments, Sen. Grassley helped lead the successful effort to pass the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act, which was the most important foster care reform legislation in more than a decade. He is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, which handles legislation related to foster care.

Sen. Landrieu has supported many legislative initiatives in child welfare and is chair of the advisory board of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, which seeks to improve the adoption system in the U.S. and help more children find a safe, permanent and loving home.

The Senate Caucus on Foster Youth will help bring foster care issues to the forefront by providing a forum for senators, their staff, researchers, current and former foster youth, their advocates and other groups to openly and thoughtfully discuss foster care issues. Sen. Grassley and Sen. Landrieu would also like the caucus to monitor how states are implementing existing federal policies related to foster care, including the Fostering Connections Act.

Sens. Grassley and Landrieu made the announcement today at a workshop hosted by Casey Family Programs, American Public Human Services Association, Children’s Defense Fund, First Focus, Foster Care Alumni of America, FosterClub and Voices for America’s Children marking the 10th anniversary of the Chafee Act (Foster Care Independence Act of 1999), which provides help to young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood. The daylong event brought together members of Congress, staff, researchers, advocates and representatives from 11 states to discuss successful efforts to serve older youth in foster care and opportunities to make further improvements.