Vol. 4, No. 1 • Fall 1999
North Carolina Foster Parent
Association Legislative
Update: What's Up for Our Kids
by Michelle HughesThis year the North Carolina Foster Parent Association (NCFPA) Board decided to focus on three issues that would need possible legislative action. The three issues were chosen from a survey completed at the November 1998 conference. Here is an update on the status of each issue:
Higher education tuition waiver for foster and former foster children. This issue focused on supporting the educational pursuits of children in foster care. Children in foster care and those who age out of the foster care system need financial support in order to attend community colleges or state/private universities.
In addition, families who adopt older children out of the foster care system often need financial support to help that child attend college. NCFPA considered introducing a bill this session that would provide a tuition waiver for these children. However, after extensive discussions with education officials, NCFPA decided to research the issue more to:
- Determine if more education was needed to inform youth, foster parents, and social workers of existing financial aid and
- Determine if any legislative action should focus on expanding existing resources rather than creating a separate program.
NCFPA will continue to look at ways to support youth who wish to attend higher education and determine the most effective strategy of sending our kids to college.
Increase the number of foster care workers. A negative consequence of the large caseloads that foster care social workers carry is that they have little time to focus on foster and adoptive parent recruitment, retention, and support.
NCFPA�s legislative agenda proposed increasing the number of foster care workers in the state so we can ensure an adequate supply of trained and supported foster and adoptive parents. Governor Hunt, as part of his SAFE KIDS initiative, requested $3.26 million in fiscal year 99�00 and $6.5 million in fiscal year 00�01 for 120 additional staff for county DSS agencies to expand recruitment, training, licensing, and home studies of prospective foster/adoptive families, interstate home studies, and post-adoptive studies. The amount was reduced in the House and Senate budgets to $1.4 million, enough for about 25 positions. (For more about this, see Advocacy Opportunity)
Increase foster parent board payments. The last item on the NCFPA agenda was to increase the foster parent board payments and adoption assistance subsidies. NCFPA decided to focus on two issues:
- Implementing a $400 supplement for families that adopt teenagers in foster care and
- Extending adoption assistance to age 19 (it currently ends at age 18).
The Covenant with North Carolina�s Children (an association of over 90 organizations that lobbies for children) worked to have the bills introduced. Unfortunately, neither item was included in the House or Senate budgets.
Contributed by Michelle Hughes, Public Action Director for the N.C. Child Advocacy Institute.
Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families
