OLYMPIA – The Governor yesterday signed the Fostering Connections to Success Act, a bill sponsored by State Rep. Mary Helen Roberts (D-Lynnwood) that bolsters state efforts to help foster youth complete their education after they turn 18 by providing safe housing and support services.
Roberts, a longtime advocate for foster youth, says it’s nearly impossible for these youngest adults to successfully support themselves and complete their education without the certainty of a safe place to live.
“These are children who, through no fault of their own, have been placed under the care of the state and have few people to turn to when that frightening time comes to move out on their own,” said Roberts. “Once they turn 18, they often fall through the cracks – no longer a ward of the state, but not yet an adult able to care for themselves. The number of children we send out of the system without a plan to set them on solid ground is heartbreaking.”
It’s estimated that 140 foster youth per year age out of the system. Research from the Washington State Institute of Public Policy (WSIPP) provides a sobering picture of the challenges foster youth face once they turn 18 and age out of the system without support. Only 34 percent of foster youth graduate high school on time and are much more likely to become an early parent, homeless, incarcerated or dependent on public assistance.
Roberts’ bill allows the state to leverage federal funding through the Foster Care to 21 program to provide safe housing for any foster child enrolled in a post-secondary or vocational training program until they turn 21. If more funding becomes available in the future, the program could be expanded to support young working adults.
Several former foster youth attended the hearing in support of Roberts’s bill. Jackie, a 21-year-old woman who was in foster care for 11 years, was in a car accident at 19 and lost her job as a result. She was able to enroll in a housing program which prevented her from becoming homeless and allowed her to go back to work. Terrel, a 22-year-old man from Burien, was in foster care for 18 years. He credits the support services and housing available for foster youth for allowing him to go to school, find a job, and surround himself with positive role models.
Roberts says the investment is well worth it, pointing to WSIPP’s research that shows for every dollar invested in the Foster Care to 21 program, there is a benefit of $1.35 to taxpayers. For the youth, the return is as high as $5.16.
“Most of us who are parents don’t think twice about supporting our children as they take those first steps outside the nest,” says Roberts. “We allow our child to live at home while they go to college, or allow them to come by the house to do laundry and raid the cupboards for food. These kids don’t have anyone to do that for them. Turning 18 isn’t a day to celebrate for them, it’s a day when the only support system they have is taken away.”