Rep. Houchin Joins Introduction of Bipartisan Bill to Help Find Missing Foster Youth
“It cannot be the new normal that thousands of children in foster care go missing every year, many of which are falsely recorded as runaways and as a result never found,” – Rep. Houchin.
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN-09) joined Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) and others to introduce the Find and Protect Foster Youth Act on Thursday. The bipartisan legislation seeks to create an improved feedback mechanism between states and the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) to provide better oversight and information-sharing related to missing and runaway foster youth.
“I have been contending for children involved with the Department of Child Services in Indiana for many years. Through that work, I have seen firsthand the challenges in our foster care system and that experience has had a major impact on my legislative priorities in Congress. It cannot be the new normal that thousands of children in foster care go missing every year, many of which are falsely recorded as runaways and as a result never found. That’s why I am an original cosponsor of the Find and Protect Foster Youth Act to evaluate existing protocols and identify obstacles in the way of finding these missing children. Above all, we must make sure these vulnerable children are located and made safe,” said Congresswoman Houchin.
Under current practice, states are required to implement plans to prevent, mitigate, and find missing foster youth. However, tens of thousands of foster children have gone missing over the last two decades. This proposal would require the ACF to study shortcomings in the process of identifying and responding to incidents of missing children in existing state foster care systems; establish screenings for children returned to foster care to determine if they were victims of sex trafficking in their absence from foster care; and require a report to Congress on the results of the evaluation of each state’s protocol and the assistance provided to them.
This legislation has also been introduced in the Senate by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
Read the full text of the bill here.
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