Karen Bass: “May marks National Foster Care Month, a time for our country to come together to acknowledge the half million people in…”

“May marks National Foster Care Month, a time for our country to come together to acknowledge the half million people in our child welfare system. No one knows the child welfare system like the foster youth who have grown up in the system, and no one can raise their voices like foster youth voices. Today, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth and the National Foster Youth Institute have brought together more than 100 young people from every corner of the country here, to Washington, D.C., to shadow their Members of Congress. The young people here today have traveled thousands of miles to share their stories, their challenges with abuse, trafficking, overmedication, or homelessness, but in addition, to share their successes with education accomplishments, mentorship, adoption, family unification, and community activism. With me here today, from Los Angeles, is Megan Simon. She is 24 years old, and she was placed in foster care when she was only 1 year old. She was raised by her grandparents, and she has two other siblings who were involved in the system. She is actively involved in the National Foster Youth Institute Leadership Corps, where she attends meetings every Thursday night. She is an advocate and someone who wants to use her pain and her experience to make changes in the child welfare system.…”