CCAI’s Foster Youth Internship Program® (FYI) is a highly esteemed congressional internship for young adults who have spent their formative years in U.S. foster care. Since 2003, the FYI Program has provided the Foster Youth Interns the opportunity to intern in a congressional office on Capitol Hill — both exposing the FYIs to the policymaking process as well as raising awareness to federal policymakers about the needs and unique perspectives of those who have spent time in foster care.
The FYI Program also offers the creative and talented Foster Youth Interns the opportunity to use their newfound understanding of Capitol Hill and federal policy to research and write a policy report over the course of the summer. The interns focus on topics they are personally passionate about, generally linked to their own experience in foster care, and make policy recommendations to improve the U.S. child welfare system for children who are currently in foster care. This report and its recommendations is presented by the interns in briefings to the U.S. Congress and the White House Domestic Policy Council, disseminated across the country, and for the first time in program history, presented at two additional briefings to industry leaders in the private sector and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
