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FOSTER YOUTH

INTERNSHIP

PROGRAM™

BRINGING THE VOICE OF FOSTER
YOUTH TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

This summer, CCAI hosted 12 talented young
adults, who spent their formative years in foster “ALL TOO OFTEN, FOSTER AND ADOPTIVE
care, in our ten-week Foster Youth Internship YOUTH BELIEVE THAT THEIR EXPERIENCES
(FYI) Program™. Throughout this professional HAVE LITTLE IMPACT AND THAT THEIR
internship experience, the youth worked in U.S. VOICES ARE NEVER HEARD. I THINK THE
Congressional offices and were given opportunities GREATEST VALUE OF THE FYI PROGRAM
to share with Members of Congress and their IS THAT IT MAKES THE IMPORTANT STEP
staff about real-life challenges children face TO CONNECT YOUNG ADULTS WHO HAVE
in U.S. foster care. At the end of the summer ACTUALLY SPENT TIME IN THE FOSTER CARE
program, CCAI’s Foster Youth Interns presented SYSTEM WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. ”
their carefully researched policy report, Shaping
Sam Leiva, 2014 Foster Youth Intern
Tomorrow with Today’s Minds, at a standing room only
Congressional briefing. They also briefed White
House Domestic Policy Council’s Deputy Assistant
Roy Austin and his team on their report and
recommendations. The interns’ report will be used
by Congress, the Administration, and the adoption
and foster care community as a resource to improve
child welfare policy. Since the inception of the FYI
Program, almost 160 current and former foster
youth have made their mark on Capitol Hill, and
several of the interns’ recommendations have been
and are being drafted into legislation.

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