Being in foster care can feel lonely. The system often fails to prioritize helping young people build strong, lasting connections: people who will show up for them no matter what. A new bill in Congress wants to change that. 

Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI-04) and Mike Carey (R-OH-15) have introduced bipartisan legislation (meaning both a Democrat and a Republican worked together on it) called the CONNECT Act (short for the Chafee Opportunities for New Networks and Existing Connection Trust Act).

The CONNECT Act would make changes to the Chafee program, a federal program that provides funding to states to help youth in and aging out of foster care successfully transition to adulthood.

The CONNECT Act would do the following:

• Make it a clear goal of the Chafee program to help youth build lifelong support: through family members, mentors, and peers 
• Allows Chafee funding to support youth in being real partners in their own permanency, making sure young people have a say in decisions about who is in their lives long-term
• Require the federal government (HHS) to create guidance for states on how to do this  and that guidance must be developed with input from young people with lived experience in foster care

FosterClub is proud to support this bill. Our Executive Director, Celeste Bodner, shared:

Youth in foster care consistently share how isolating the experience can be, and how peer support and strong family connections can create lifelong bonds. We're grateful that Representatives Moore and Carey listened to young people and reflected their recommendations in the CONNECT Act, creating meaningful pathways to lasting relationships and engaging youth as true partners in the permanency process.

This bill directly reflects what young people have been asking for. It still needs to pass through Congress and be signed into law. FosterClub will provide updates on how you can support this effort.

Read the press release from Representative Gwen Moore here. 

Need help getting Chafee resources? Our Outreach team can help out. Contact us at [email protected].