Foster Youth Internship Program®
Congressional Report
CCAI’s Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program® offers the talented leaders in the program the opportunity to use their newfound understanding of Capitol Hill and federal policy to research and write a policy report. The interns focus on subjects they are personally passionate about due to their experiences and understanding after experiencing foster care and make personal recommendations for improving the U.S. foster care system. This report is published annually and presented at both congressional and briefings with the executive branch.
The reports have become a highly sought after, expert resource for federal policymakers, and many of the recommendations have even been signed into law. The Foster Youth Internship Program® interns are often invited to speak across the nation on the subjects they have researched and presented, given their expertise on these subjects.
Meet the 2025 cohort of the Foster Youth Internship Program®!
Foster Youth Internship Program® Congressional Reports
2025: Policy in Practice: Centering Youth and Families in a Reimagined Foster Care System
2022: Well-Being in Action: Expanding Equitable Access to Comprehensive Supports for Foster Youth
2021: Building the Path Forward for Change in the Child Welfare System
2020: Seeing Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Creating Change for Vulnerable Children and Families
2019: Boundless Futures: Building a Youth-Focused Child Welfare System
2018: Tools for Transformation: Building a Compassionate Child Welfare System
2017: Unlocking Potential: The Strength of Our Stories as the Key to Child Welfare Reform
2016: "Powerful Voices: Sharing Our Stories to Reform Child Welfare"
2015: "Embracing Our Past, Empowering Their Future: Why Child Welfare Reform Matters"
2014: "Shaping Tomorrow with Today's Minds: Applying Updated Solutions to an Outdated System"
2013: "Our Voice, Their Future: Fostering Hope Through Child Welfare Reform"
2012: "Hear Me Now"
2011: "The Future of Foster Care: A Revolution for Change"
2010: "Leaving Our Mark on a New Generation"
2009: "Using Yesterday to Shape Tomorrow: Uniting 500,000 Foster Youth Voices for One Mission"
2008: "Putting the 'Foster' Back Into Foster Care: Recommendations for Improving Foster Care and Adoption"
Read the Individual Reports From 2025
Elyzabeth Andersen: Enhancing Youth Voice in Healthcare Decisions
Elijah B. Davis: Enhancing Due Process, Equitable Support, and Transparency in Foster Care Placements through a Supported Kinship Diversion Model
Amirah J. Foster: Closing the Educational Achievement Gap for Foster Youth Through Mentorship
Shayla George: Stability as a Right: Strengthening Foster Care through Trauma-Informed Policy and Appropriate Placement Practices
Ov’Var’Shia Gray-Woods: Reforming Workforce Development and Youth Engagement in Permanency Planning for Foster Youth Transitioning out of Care
Nikolas Hughey: Unlock Potential, Break the Cycle: Investing in Foster Youth Through Expungement
Michael Anthony Miser: Foster Youth Suicide Prevention
Stephanie M.V. Popper: Helping Caseworkers Supporting Foster Youth’s Means of Achieving Wellness & Permanency: Mental Health Care Coordination
Alexis Corazon Rodriguez: Advancing Behavioral Health Opportunities in the U.S. Foster Care System
