A virtual town hall meeting is planned for this afternoon to discuss needed improvements between the nation’s schools and its foster care systems. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley will be taking part in the broadcast and says his focus will be on how foster children deserve a more stable education.

“Studies show that these kids score lower in all academic measures than people their age that aren’t in foster care,” Grassley says. “We need to figure out how to help children in foster care systems stay enrolled in the same schools to avoid another disruption beyond what they go through already, because they are tossed around from family to family.”

Grassley, a Republican, founded the U.S. Senate Caucus on Foster Youth last year and authored legislation in 2008 designed to bring reforms to the foster care system. “What I’ve learned from talking to these kids is that they want permanence, they want a mom and dad,” Grassley says.

“Permanency is very important, whether it involves housing or education.” Today’s virtual town hall meeting is at 4:30 P.M. CST. It can be linked @chuckgrassley on Twitter. In Iowa alone, there are more than 6,300 children in foster care, with only about 2,300 families, so more participation is desperately needed.

Learn more about foster care in Iowa at: “www.iowakidsnet.com“.