Sponsors (4)
The bill offers modest, targeted emergency and capacity-building support for foster youth and underserved communities, but the program's very small scale, conditional funding source, and flexible spending authority risk inconsistent impact and reduced dollars for direct services.
Foster youth (under age 26) receive direct emergency relief and basic-needs support (e.g., food, food-prep equipment, clothing up to $250/year) that increases immediate safety and stability.
Local child-welfare agencies and nonprofits can hire staff and expand service capacity using grant funds, improving local ability to support youth in care and during placement transitions.
Underserved communities — including rural areas, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations — receive targeted outreach and access, helping reduce geographic and cultural gaps in services.
Children and local providers face very limited program reach because only three grants (up to $1M each) are awarded nationwide, and $45,000 reserved for administration further reduces funds available for direct services.
Foster youth and service providers may not receive support consistently because funding is available only from year-over-year excess (amounts above $5M), creating the risk the program will be unfunded in some years.
The Secretary's authority to approve broad 'other' uses of funds creates a risk that grant dollars could be spent on activities that deviate from direct youth assistance, diluting the program's intended impact.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes up to three $1M demonstration grants to agencies for emergency relief and pre-placement supports for foster youth, funded only from specified year-to-year excess child-welfare funds.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by Donald J. Bacon · Last progress February 9, 2026
Creates a small demonstration program that makes up to three grants (each up to $1,000,000) to eligible “foster care stabilization agencies” to provide emergency relief and strengthen pre-placement services for foster youth. Grants must be spent within three years, include limited caps on clothing/personal-necessity payments, require applications and outreach (including to rural areas and Tribal organizations), and must be funded only from specified year-to-year excess amounts in existing child welfare funding.