All4Ed Releases New Report on Coordinating Education, Health, and Child Welfare Policy to Support Youth in Foster Care
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Contact: Enrique A. Chaurand
Email: echaurand@all4ed.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, All4Ed released Healthy Minds, Strong-Futures: Aligning Systems to Advance Adolescent Development for Youth in Foster Care, a comprehensive report outlining how federal policymakers can build an integrated system of support that helps youth in foster care thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
While the report’s release comes at a time of harmful policy changes to Medicaid and cuts to mental health services, its recommendations reflect a broader, long-term vision for supporting young people in foster care.
Recent federal actions threaten not only existing programs but also future progress toward equity and access. These policy shifts could further destabilize the supports available to young people already facing systemic barriers.
“Adolescence is a critical period of growth. At this age, students are still building the entire map of their inner worlds. They have not yet become fixed in their mindsets. Their thinking has not yet been limited. To them, the world is still full of necessary curiosity and ingenuity. This openness makes adolescence a window of possibility, when the right supports can shape resilience, identity, and opportunity. For youth in foster care, that means they deserve coordinated systems that recognize the deep connection between health and education,” said Jazmin Flores Peña, Senior Manager of Policy and Government Relations at All4Ed and the report’s author. “Too often, education, health, and child welfare operate in silos—leaving young people to navigate disjointed systems on their own. This report is a call to action for policymakers to work together to ensure every young person in foster care has the stability, resources, and relationships they need to succeed.”
The report offers a policy roadmap to:
- Strengthen coordination between education, health, and child welfare agencies
- Ensure equitable access to trauma-informed schools, health, and
- Remove barriers to health care access that keep youth in foster care from reaching their goals
- Leverage existing policies to better meet the health and education needs of youth in foster care
- Move beyond the health needs of students by creating learning opportunities that foster a sense of purpose and belonging
Nearly 350,000 youth were in foster care in 2023, with many experiencing multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that can negatively affect both health and educational outcomes. Despite these challenges, research shows that 70 percent of youth in foster care aspire to attend college—a testament to their resilience and potential.
All4Ed’s recommendations are designed to ensure that public systems meet their moral and legal obligations to these young people, not with fragmented programs, but with a coordinated approach that sees education and health as intertwined pathways to opportunity. We are grateful to the Stuart Foundation for their generous support of this report and their commitment to advancing equity and opportunity for all students.
The full report is available here: https://all4ed.org/publication/healthy-minds-strong-futures-aligning-systems-to-advance-adolescent-development-for-youth-in-foster-care/
###
