The CONNECT Act updates the stated purposes of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, a federal program under the Social Security Act that supports older youth transitioning out of foster care. The bill shifts the program’s emphasis toward helping youth who entered foster care at age 14 or older build and maintain long-term, supportive relationships with adults, kin, mentors, and peers, including peers with foster care experience. It also adds a purpose focused on helping youth still in foster care participate in their permanency planning and receive written information about services and agency efforts supporting their permanency goals.
In addition to revising the statutory purposes, the bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance within one year of enactment to state and tribal child welfare agencies. That guidance must explain what services may be funded under relevant federal foster care provisions, identify best practices for peer support and mentoring, set outreach and notification standards for eligible youth, and describe documentation protocols for relationship-building activities that must be included in case plans. The amendments would take effect one year after enactment.
Impact
The bill amends section 477(a) of the Social Security Act, which governs the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program, by replacing one existing purpose and renumbering the remaining purposes. It would not create a new standalone program, but it would change how federal foster care transition funds and related services are framed and administered, especially for youth age 14 and older. State and tribal child welfare agencies would be expected to align their practices with new federal guidance on mentoring, peer support, kin connections, permanency planning, outreach, and documentation.
Sentiment
The available context suggests a generally supportive and noncontroversial bill. The title and findings reflect a child welfare policy approach grounded in research and youth lived experience, with an emphasis on reducing isolation and strengthening lifelong support networks for foster youth. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided material, so no formal opposition or amendment activity is evident from the record here.
Contention
The main policy issue embedded in the bill is how broadly federal foster care funds may be used for relationship-based services such as mentoring, peer support, kinship connections, and permanency-related engagement. Potential points of contention could include whether the new guidance and documentation requirements impose additional administrative burdens on state and tribal agencies, and how to define eligible services, minimum qualifications for mentors, and standards for documenting support activities. The bill also implicitly raises questions about implementation consistency across jurisdictions, but no specific opposing arguments are provided in the available materials.
An act to amend Section 11403 Sections 366.31, 388, 388.1, 391, 727.2, 11363, 11386, 11403, 11405, 16120, and 16501.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster care.