Jim McDermott

A House bill introduced today would provide tax credits of up to $2,400 to employers who hire current and former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 27. The Improved Employment Outcomes for Foster Youth Act would for the first time include foster youth as an eligible category under the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which incentivizes the hiring of certain groups who struggle with barriers to employment.

Note: This story was updated at 5:45pm U.S. Reps Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) will introduce a bill next week that would allow former foster youth access to Medicaid in any state until the age of 26.

By Lexie Gruber Former foster youth Lexie Gruber played a vital role in changing Connecticut’s policy on foster youth education. Foster children face unique barriers to educational success. This is something I know, because I experienced it myself.

Leaders of the largest operating foundation in child welfare envision federal foster finance reform in as few as two to three years.  On May 28th, Casey Family Programs welcomed a powerful group of child welfare  leaders to its Seattle headquarters during a meeting billed as part of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth’s National Listening Tour.

The day before Congress went into summer recess on August 3rd, Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) sat down with FMC’s Daniel Heimpel to discuss her experience as a foster mother, the formation of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth as well as the Uninterrupted Scholars Act.

While the nation bemoans a “gridlocked” Congress and Comedy Central’s Messrs. Stewart and Colbert aptly ridicule both Presidential candidates for a disregard of specificity on one hand and hubris on the other, I have borne witness to a very different vision of our elected leadership.