WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today noted qualified applicants are eligible to apply for a special internship in the nation’s capital for young people who spent time in foster care. The non-profit Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute sponsors its Foster Youth Internship to place interns in congressional offices for the summer to work on child welfare policy.
“The purpose of this internship is to inform congressional policy debates about foster care and adoption policy and come up with specific solutions,” Grassley said. “I can say from experience that the internship works as intended since my office has had interns through this program, including one this year. Having interns with recent foster care expertise is valuable to the policy discussion and helpful to the cause going forward, as the interns learn about policy-making firsthand. I hope qualified Iowans will be among the applicants in the coming year.”
Grassley has hosted an intern from the program on several occasions. Most recently, his office benefited from the internship of Amnoni Myers, a former foster youth who developed a proposal to promote resilience in foster youth through trauma-informed training for caregivers. Her proposal, along with other proposals from her fellow interns, is available here.
The dates for the 2015 Foster Youth Internship Program are May 26 to July 30. All application materials must be received by Friday, Jan. 9, 2015. Details are available here.
Grassley is co-chairman and founder of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth. The caucus provides a voice for foster youth in shaping the policies that affect their quality of life. The caucus has a special focus on older youth who need continued support as they age out of the system. Among other activities, it sponsors a speakers’ series to bring the best ideas from the field to policymakers in Washington, D.C.
Grassley formed the caucus after working on major adoption and foster care policy, including the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoption Act of 2008.
-30-