WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) are lauding unanimous Senate passage of their Find and Protect Foster Youth Act. The bipartisan bill would create a feedback loop between states and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to improve care and information-sharing on missing and runaway foster youth. Grassley co-founded the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth in 2009 and now serves as co-chair with Stabenow.
“A fundamental purpose of foster care is to keep kids safe,” Grassley said. “Sadly, cracks and roadblocks in the current system leave children susceptible to exploitation. These children are at greater risk of going missing and being trafficked. For this to happen to even one child is unacceptable. I’m encouraged by the Senate’s support for this bill, which would help states and federal agencies to better coordinate on their work to protect kids in foster care.”
“Foster youth are some of the most at-risk children for trafficking, substance abuse, and other forms of exploitation,” Cornyn said. “No child should fall through the cracks of the Texas foster care system, and our bill will improve reporting and standard practices for state social service agencies to ensure vulnerable children remain in a safe home.”
“Too many of our foster youth face difficult experiences and go missing while in foster care. That’s unacceptable and must change,” Stabenow said. “Making sure our children have a safe place to call home isn’t a partisan issue. I am pleased to partner with Senators Cornyn and Grassley on this bipartisan legislation.”
“In West Virginia, our children are our future, and we must make certain that our youth in foster care are safe and protected,” Capito said. “This legislation will strengthen the coordination of information sharing between the state and federal level and improve our ability to quickly locate missing and runaway foster youth. We must do all we can to protect our most vulnerable children and keep them safe, and I’m proud to join with my colleagues to pass this legislation through the Senate.”
Under existing law, states must implement plans to mitigate and identify cases of missing foster youth. Even so, tens of thousands of foster children have gone missing in the last two decades. The Find and Protect Foster Youth Act would require ACF to report to Congress on progress toward finding missing foster youth and preventing runaways. The legislation would also establish screenings for children who return to foster care after being absent to determine whether they were victims of sex trafficking during that period.
Supportive stakeholders include the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Divinity Family Services and the Child Welfare League of America.
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