Bill Text: HI SCR47 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Foster Care

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-01 - (S) Referred to HMS/JDL, WAM. [SCR47 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SCR47-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	47
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the convening of a joint public and private sector task force to identify the feasibility and benefits OF extending foster care up to the age of twenty-one.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the transition from foster care to adulthood is a very difficult path for many former foster care individuals and without the continuation of support services they received from foster parents and state programs when they were younger, many of these young adults face low odds for a successful life of achievement as an adult; and

 

     WHEREAS, nationally, most young people who age out of foster care fare poorly compared to other young people in the general population; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the longitudinal Midwest Evaluation of Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (Midwest Evaluation), of the young adults surveyed nearly one quarter of those who age out of foster care do not earn a high school diploma; fifty-two percent were unemployed at age twenty-three or twenty-four; forty-two percent of males who aged out of foster care had been arrested; and two-thirds of the females who aged out of foster care had been pregnant since leaving foster care; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Midwest Evaluation, young people who remained in foster care until the age of twenty-one fared far better than those who had to leave foster care at age eighteen; young people who remained in foster care until the age of twenty-one were 2.7 times less likely to experience homelessness and twice as many of these young adults had completed at least one year of college; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law No. 110-351) gives the states the option of extending eligibility of the Title IV-E Independent Living Program to young people up to the age of twenty-one on a voluntary basis and provided that they meet various requirements; and

 

     WHEREAS, the expertise of multiple stakeholders is crucial to consider the potential design of the extension of foster care to age twenty-one, the costs to the State, and the benefits to the State; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Human Services is request to convene a joint public and private sector task force to examine the feasibility and benefits of extending foster care to the age of twenty-one; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force consider and identify:

 

     (1)  The requirements of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008;

 

     (2)  The supportive programs and policies that could best achieve desired results of young people, including how to:

 

          (A)  Build on support and services already in place for young people currently in and aging out of foster care;

 

          (B)  Structure support and services that are appealing and appropriate for young adults;

 

          (C)  Ensure that permanency remains at the forefront of case management; and

 

          (D)  Structure judicial oversight in a way that best supports and engages young adults; and

 

     (3)  Key design features, such as:

 

          (A)  Eligibility for extended foster care;

 

          (B)  Appropriate case management requirements and method of delivery;

 

          (C)  Placement options; and

 

          (D)  The net fiscal impacts of design decisions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are requested to select members of the task force to include but not be limited to:

 

     (1)  Representatives of the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of state government in the areas of education, workforce development, health and mental health, juvenile justice, and housing;

 

     (2)  Legal advocates;

 

     (3)  Representatives of independent living and youth development program providers, resource caregivers, guardians, and adoptive parents; and

 

     (4)  Alumni and youth currently in foster care; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Administrative Director of the Judiciary, Director of Human Services, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, Director of Health, and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Foster Care