Youth who experience foster care as teenagers often face challenges as they transition to adulthood. Compared to their peers generally, these youth often have poor outcomes in education, employment, housing stability, and other markers of adulthood.1 Such challenges appear to be heighted during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as reported in news publications and surveys of foster youth.2

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2021—an omnibus bill that includes regular FY2021 appropriations and supplemental appropriations in response to the pandemic—was signed into law on December 27, 2020 as P.L. 116-260. The Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act, included as Division X of that law, contains multiple provisions to address the needs of teens and young adults who have experienced foster care.3 The law is primarily drawn from a bill of the same name (H.R. 7947), which was introduced in August 2020 by Representative Danny Davis, chairperson of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support, with Representative Jackie Walorski, the ranking member of the subcommittee, as original co-sponsor.

This report focuses on two programs that pertain to young people ages 14 through 26 who have experienced foster care. The two programs are authorized under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (SSA): the Title IV-E Foster Care and Permanency program (hereinafter, Foster Care program) and John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (hereinafter, Chafee program).4 Both programs are administered by the Children’s Bureau (CB)—an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

This report begins with background on the experiences and needs of former foster youth before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on available research. It then provides an overview of the Foster Care program and Chafee program provisions in Division X. This is followed by more detailed background on, and the temporary changes to, both programs. Where applicable, the report discusses pandemic-related HHS guidance on the programs, both before and after enactment of Division X.