Youth and young adults in foster care yearn for and deserve lifelong families and supportive environments where they are nurtured and encouraged as they grow into adulthood. Ideally, this happens by ensuring that children and youth can remain safely with their families. Unfortunately, for many children and youth who must enter foster care, this experience often creates additional trauma and falls short of assuring their safety, well-being and family stability. This is particularly true for youth of color who are twice as likely as white children to be separated from their families and enter foster care, who spend more time in such care and who are more likely to age out of it without achieving family permanence. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new hardships and magnified existing challenges and disparities for young people in and transitioning from foster care. This brief highlights historical federal child welfare policy achievements and urges Congress to champion new reforms to eliminate harmful disparities that persist for youth of color and promote long-lasting benefits for all young people in and transitioning from foster care. Before the pandemic-relief provisions expire, federal policymakers should act to continue providing vital resources and build a comprehensive approach to promoting young people's healing, well-being and success in adulthood. Solutions must explicitly address the long-standing racial injustices that have led to consistently worse outcomes for youth of color in foster care. Federal policy reforms should: (1) prioritize permanent family connections; (2) improve access to housing; and (3) create pathways to success.