[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IN RECOGNITION OF iFOSTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 29, 2016

  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the iFoster jobs 
program for foster youth. Each May, we recognize National Foster Care 
Month, when we acknowledge the unique challenges facing American youth 
in foster care. The campaign recognizes not only the foster youth, but 
also the foster parents, family members, child welfare professionals, 
volunteers, and members of our communities who help our children find 
foster placements, and ultimately transition successfully out of the 
foster care system.
  One of the most significant challenges facing foster youth as they 
transition out of the foster care system involves finding meaningful 
employment. As a Member of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, I 
am committed to identifying strategies to improve the well-being, 
education and employment outcomes for our foster youth. For these 
reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing iFoster's foster 
youth employment program.
  The iFoster program launched in Placer County in May 2015 and has 
since expanded to Los Angeles County. Through a partnership with the 
grocery industry, it has developed an innovative employment program for 
transition age foster youth. The program provides participating youth 
with pre-employment skills training, employer matching, needed material 
resources, preferential hiring, on-the-job mentorship, and scholarship 
and career advancement activities. In its pilot year, the program has 
placed over 100 youth, and achieved a 100 percent hire rate and a 90 
percent six-month retention rate for participating foster youth. I am 
pleased that this May, the program will be launching in Riverside, San 
Bernardino and Sacramento counties, before being replicated nationwide.
  Mr. Speaker, in advance of iFoster's expansion next month, I ask all 
my colleagues to join me in honoring its work in the state of 
California.

                          ____________________