Recommendations to Improve the Chafee Program

In March 2022, the Journey to Success campaign launched a national policy initiative to advance solutions that improve outcomes for youth who are in or transitioning from foster care. The campaign’s initial white paper outlined a set of goals centered on healing, family connections, and economic opportunity—themes that continue to guide its policy development. 

From the outset, the campaign’s defining approach has been its methodology: pairing rigorous research and data with the insights and leadership of young people with lived experience in foster care and those who support them. This commitment to shared expertise has shaped every phase of the campaign’s work, from identifying challenges to formulating actionable policy recommendations. 

These recommendations to strengthen the Chafee program are grounded in that same approach. Now nearly 25 years old, the Chafee program offers a substantial record of what works—and what does not—based on decades of implementation. The campaign is deeply grateful to the young people with lived experience in foster care, agency partners, researchers, caregivers, and others whose perspectives continue to inform efforts to ensure that this vital program fulfills its promise.