JTS Statement on The Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act
Journey to Success applauds the Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act. The bipartisan bill reflects months of meaningful discussions with key stakeholders in the child welfare field, including the Journey to Success campaign and its partners.
Sponsored by Representatives Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Danny Davis (D-Ill.), the committee leaders’ bill draws on more than a dozen bipartisan bills that include targeted improvements to strengthen the Title IV-B program. Importantly, the bill incorporates the expertise of youth and young adults with direct experience in foster care. This input includes the testimony of Journey to Success partners Rebekka Behr (Fla.) and Jordan Otero (Ind.) who appeared before the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare in January and shared insights from their own foster care journeys. Their powerful testimony highlighted the need for reforms that recognize the steep climb youth from foster care face on the road to adulthood.
The committee provides a section-by-section description of the bill (available here.) Journey to Success is pleased to highlight provisions throughout the bill that align with the campaign’s goals of promoting family connections, health and healing, and economic opportunities for youth and young adults who experience foster care and their families. These provisions include but are not limited to:
Defining youth as an individual who is not yet 26 years old, which will help state and local agencies better serve young people during their transition from adolescence to adulthood – a key developmental period during which many youth face significant barriers.
Enhancing requirements on agencies to engage and involve key stakeholders – particularly youth and families involved in child welfare who are not always at the table as partners in decision-making. Requiring agencies to engage youth and families in their planning processes — and asking states to report on how they are using feedback from those with lived experience — will strengthen and improve services and promote better outcomes. Research clearly demonstrates the benefits of youth and family engagement, and this bill will help more agencies grow this best practice.
Focusing attention on the mental health needs of youth by strengthening requirements in health coordination plans, emphasizing the need to address mental health issues, and improving oversight of prescription medication use among youth.
Promoting peer-to-peer mentoring and support programs designed to help children, youth, and families learn from others who have similar experiences within the child welfare system. The ability for children, youth, parents, and caregivers to turn to individuals in their communities who understand what they are going through is a vital lifeline.
Extending funding authorizations for Title IV-B Subparts 1 and 2 and raising mandatory authorization in FY 2026-2029, which addresses important resource needs at the local and state levels.
Modernizing and strengthening existing programs, including the Court Improvement Program and Regional Partnerships Grants.
Improving funding for Indian tribes, enhancing Indian Child Welfare Act implementation, and improving the quality and array of services for American Indian and Alaska Native children, youth, and families.
Addressing barriers to Family First implementation by providing targeted funds to support program evaluations that will lead to a richer array of evidence-based programs in the Clearinghouse.
Furthering the important kin-first movement in child welfare by improving kinship policy through investments in kinship navigator programs and specifying kinship families’ eligibility for other Title IV-B programs and services.
During the 118th Congress, the Journey to Success campaign and its national, state, and local partners from across the country have held more than 75 congressional meetings, hosted policy briefings on Capitol Hill, and engaged with policymakers and stakeholders at convenings and events to share what’s working and not working, based on the data and the real-life experiences of youth from foster care. Our goal is to ensure that youth and young adults have the resources they need to thrive – which includes lifelong family connections, support for their health and healing, and economic opportunities.
Journey to Success commends the Ways and Means committee members and members of Congress who champion the needs of youth and young adults in foster care. We look forward to the Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act advancing through the legislative process. We also encourage federal policymakers to continue reform efforts in the coming months and champion broader reform efforts that center young people in and leaving foster care in more substantial ways. Our vision for reform can be found in our white paper, in policy briefs, as well as in recent testimony to House and Senate committees.