Over the weekend, Anne Holton, the wife of Vice-Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine, spoke with Lexie Gruber and Sixto Cancel, two former foster youth, to share her ideas about reforming the child welfare system.
Holton is no stranger to the issue of foster care. She served as Chief Judge for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond, started “For Keeps: Families for All Virginia Teens”, a program focused on finding permanent families for older youth in foster care and was director of Great Expectations, which helps proved access to higher education for former foster youth.
Holton discussed the current problems foster youth are facing in the United States, including:
- better supports for youth aging out of the system and transitioning into adulthood,
- the need to address the current opioid crisis driving up the number of children entering care,
- why investments in prevention services should be made, how family recruitment practices can be reformed,
- and why collecting more robust data on the child welfare population will help lead to better outcomes for youth.
Throughout the dialogue, Holton encouraged advocates, youth and other stakeholders to share their ideas on how to improve the child welfare system to a potential Clinton administration. The Trump campaign has not detailed their proposals on child welfare policy.
Watch the Town Hall in its entirety (begins at 28:00).
