Rep. Yakym, First Lady Melania Trump Discuss Foster Care Initiatives

Last week, Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) joined First Lady Melania Trump for a Ways and Means Committee Roundtable on foster care initiatives including his bipartisan bill, The Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act (H.R. 7655).

"I appreciate the First Lady’s commitment to America's foster youth and her leadership on the Fostering the Future initiative," Rep. Yakym said. "Today's conversation was productive, and I look forward to continuing Congresswoman Walorski's work alongside the First Lady, including advancing my bipartisan Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act to better connect young parents with the resources they need to protect children and strengthen their families."  

The Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act has earned the support of nearly 160 organizations. 

Read a full bill summary HERE.

Rep. Yakym’s remarks as prepared for delivery: 

Thank you, Mrs. Trump for meeting with us today to discuss this important issue. You previously worked closely with my predecessor Jackie Walorski on supporting America’s foster youth, including writing an op-ed with her. I hope to continue her work on this issue with you. 

A young Hoosier named Jada aged out of foster care and participated in the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting or MIECHV program, and shared that she did not have the best role models to teach her parenting skills in foster care. But MIECHV gave her reassurance as a parent, enabled her to access postpartum resources, and helped her develop parenting skills.  

As part of the Committee’s efforts to modernize the Chafee program, we have examined the unmet needs of foster youth and the impact of program fragmentation on the foster youth they are supposed to serve.

Foster youth are more likely to become parents earlier compared to their peers. More specifically, 70% of females in foster care become pregnant by age 21 compared to just 34% of their peers. 

Older foster youth are navigating various challenges, including difficulty developing parenting skills and understanding child development.

I along with Ranking Member Davis introduced the Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act, to strengthen coordination between the Chafee and MIECHV programs.

Connecting foster youth with evidence-based MIECHV services can help improve infant health, teach young parents’ critical skills, and promote early childhood literacy. The Fostering the Future Executive Order requires the creation of an online platform to help foster youth navigate programs they are eligible for. My bill aligns with this goal and aims to help foster youth be better served by federal programs and services. 

Importantly, reducing program fragmentation and providing new parents with home visiting services can help protect children and strengthen families ensuring that parenting foster youth can remain with their children.

Passing these bipartisan bills will help modernize the Chafee program, alleviate resource fragmentation, and ultimately better support foster youth transitioning to adulthood. 

Mrs. Trump, thank you for your time and your leadership on the Fostering the Future initiative.