The CONNECT Act modifies the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to prioritize helping youth in foster care build and maintain long-term relationships with adults, mentors, and peers. The bill adds two new purposes to the program: helping youth ages 14 and older develop sustained support networks and lifelong connections, and supporting youth in foster care in exercising their rights to participate in permanency planning while receiving peer support and mentoring. Within one year of the law's enactment, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must issue guidance to states and tribal agencies that includes examples of eligible services, best practices for peer support and mentoring, outreach standards, and documentation protocols. The changes take effect one year after the bill becomes law and are based on research and input from youth with lived experience in the foster care system.
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