WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to push Congress to pass bills broadening access to services for young people in foster care, calling it a “moral imperative.”

The first lady began working on foster care issues after President Donald Trump's first term ended in 2021. Her trip followed a similar and successful lobbying effort last year to get Congress to send legislation to the president to protect women and children from online sexual exploitation.

The visit came a week after Melania Trump's surprise on-camera statement at the White House in which she denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his crimes, and urged Congress to hold a hearing for his victims. She also demanded an end to “lies” linking her to the late financier and convicted sex offender.

On Capitol Hill, she said youngsters in foster care face barriers to housing, transportation and education and other challenges outside the classroom that affect their academic performance.

“We can close this gap,” Melania Trump said. “New legislation for the foster care community is a moral imperative.”

She met Wednesday afternoon with members of the House Ways and Means Committee who introduced the new legislation, and she also heard from people who were in foster care.

Jaydan Martinez, a freshman at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, said he received just over $2,000 in support per semester, but it disappeared in the “blink of an eye.” He said he supports raising the cap on that financial support.

Jocelyn Fetting, who said she aged out of the system at 21, said thousands in foster care are doing everything right but still struggle because the “systems to support them have not kept pace with their needs.” She said she lost her parents at age 12 and, during college, worked three jobs even with scholarships to meet her housing, food and other needs.

Fetting, who is now 22 and a substitute teacher for grades pre-K through 8 as well as a peer navigator for young adults in foster care, said the proposed changes matter because "we are expecting young people to achieve self-sufficiency without providing support to do so.”

Republican and Democratic committee members have introduced several bills to update the Chafee foster care program to improve outcomes for young people aging out of the foster care system. The measures would increase their access to housing, education and workforce training programs, among other things, to help them succeed in the transition to adulthood and independence.

The bills have a long way to go toward passage in Congress since they've only just been introduced.

The program provides support to foster youth and former foster youth, ages 14 to 21, as they leave the system. The committee said the bipartisan proposals would be the most significant update since the Chafee program was created in 1999.

The Government Accountability Office published a report in January 2025 detailing how states were returning millions of dollars in unused Chafee program funds to the federal government, despite unmet needs of foster youth.

Last November, President Trump created the “Fostering the Future” program by executive order to have federal entities, nonprofits, educational institutions and the private sector work together to improve career and educational opportunities for children raised in foster care.

The first lady, who joined her husband in the Oval Office for the executive order signing, separately spearheads a broader “Fostering the Future” initiative that is part of the “Be Best” child-focused campaign she launched during his first presidential term. The program offers scholarships to current and former foster youth and has a presence on more than 20 university campuses across the United States.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.