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1 (September 6, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabebs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22501 September 6, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Child Welfare: The Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) Adrienne L. Fernandes Analyst in Social Legislation Domestic Social Policy Division Summary While most young people have access to financial and emotional support systems throughout their early adult years, former foster care youth often lack assistance in developing independent living skills to ease the transition to adulthood. Recognizing the difficulties faced by youth exiting foster care, Congress passed the Chafee Foster Care Independence Act (P.L. 106-169) to expand the population of youth eligible to receive independent living services and to give states greater flexibility in designing their independent living programs. Under P.L. 106-169, Congress doubled the mandatory funding available to states for independent living services, from $70 million to $140 million. In 2002, Congress passed legislation (P.L. 107-133) to allocate discretionary funding to eligible current and former foster care youth for education and training vouchers, worth up to $5,000. The House is currently considering H.R. 3471, which, if enacted, would address weaknesses in the implementation of the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP). This report briefly describes the CFCIP and will be updated as significant legislative developments occur. Introduction In most states, youth are discharged from foster care at age 18 or shortly thereafter.! The number of youth reported as emancipating from care rose from approximately 19,000 in FY2001 to 23,100 in FY2004.2 This increase in the number of emancipated youth has occurred concurrently with the overall decrease in the number of children in care, from 556,000 in FY2001 to 517,000 in FY2004. Further, nearly 30% of children who emancipated from care in FY2003 (the most recent data available for this characteristic) 1 Marian Bussey et al. Transition from Foster Care: A State-by-State Data Base Analysis, Casey Family Programs, 2000, p. 19. 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, The AFCARSReport, September 2002 and September 2004, at [http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/ statsresearch/index.htm#afcars]. Congressional Research Service +o The Library of Congress