Bill to Expand Foster Care Stalled

A state senator from Philadelphia is calling on her fellow lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow foster children to stay in the system beyond the age of 18. Currently any child in the system must leave upon turning 18, but Sen. LeAnna Washington has proposed legislation that would allow them to remain under foster care until the age of 21. Washington says 36 other states already have some sort of program that allows teenagers to stay in foster care. Washington says many 18 year-olds wind up on the streets after ageing out of foster care. She says they need the education, health insurance and housing support. Washington says the hope is that by the age of 21 they will have, “completed their education, finished any treatment program they may have been in, and are ready to enter the workforce.” As of September,2008, there were some 8,500 children 13 years of age and older in Pennsylvania’s foster care system. Sen. Washington has introduced two similar bills and both are sitting in committee. Washington says it is time for the matter to be called and debated. She hopes this will be the first step toward legislation to provide a free community college education to any foster care child.