First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a set of bipartisan reforms aimed at modernizing a federal program for young people transitioning out of the foster care system.

The first lady joined House Ways and Means Committee members and two people who were in foster care on Capitol Hill for a roundtable discussion focused on advancing opportunities in housing, education and other support services for children who have aged out of the foster care system.

“New legislation for the foster care community is a moral imperative,” she

said in opening remarks.

“Beginning here in this room, we can once again change people’s lives. With the new legislation, we can ensure that the opportunity is more than helpful for individuals in the foster care community,” she continued. “It can be their birthright.”

Lawmakers on the committee introduced six bipartisan bills last month that would make changes to the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (Chafee). The program, created in 1999, is intended to help foster youth and former foster youth, ages 14 to 21, succeed as they leave the system.

The committee said in a March announcement that the proposals would mark the most significant reforms to the program in nearly 30 years.

“Each one of those bills responds to challenges that have been shared by stakeholders, witnesses and foster youth themselves about what needs to be improved in the program, including better coordination with housing programs and expanding educational and workforce training opportunities,” committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said on Wednesday.

A report released by the Government Accountability Office in January 2025 found that states across the U.S. have returned unused Chafee funds since 2007, despite unmet needs to foster youth. The watchdog noted that 28 states returned education vouchers totaling $8.9 million in fiscal year 2022 alone.

Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), ranking member of the Work and Welfare Subcommittee, said on Wednesday that a “lack of awareness and limited funding” have contributed to foster youth not receiving Chafee services.

The first lady’s efforts to improve foster care outcomes have largely centered around an initiative launched in 2021 called “Fostering the Future,” which focuses on securing educational opportunities and scholarships for children in foster care.

President Trump signed an executive order during his first term in 2021

that officially created the program, designed to increase collaboration between the public and private sectors in child welfare.

The first lady highlighted on Wednesday that the initiative had since developed a footprint on 20 university campuses across the country, but said there was work to be done in other sectors to help individuals in the foster care community earn college degrees.

“Foster youth face a special set of circumstances outside the classroom that have a serious impact on their academic performance,” she said, touching on housing instability and technology access, as well as financial and transportation barriers.

More than 23,000 children age out of the U.S. foster care system each year, according to the National Foster Youth Institute, and 20 percent of those who were in foster care will become instantly homeless by the age of 18.

A bill introduced by Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) aims to improve access to housing for young people aging out of foster care by allowing states to use Chafee funds for housing support services.

It would also align age eligibility between the program and the Foster Youth to Independence housing voucher program, a gap which LaHood described as a “key barrier to access.”

“Many public housing authorities have been unable to secure the vouchers required for supportive services, preventing youth from being able to utilize the voucher as intended,” he said.

Jaydan Martinez, who entered the foster care system at age 6 and is now a student at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, credited luck for his success, but said lawmakers had the opportunity to “turn luck into law” by passing the Chafee changes.