Senators To Consider House-Passed Foster Care Independence Act

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On June 25, 1999 the House passed a bill to provide services for youth who are making the transition from foster care to independent adult life. If enacted, the bill would make mental health care and other valuable services available to many more of these youngsters. H.R. 1802, the "Foster Care Independence Act of 1999," passed the House by a vote of 380-6. A similar bill, S. 1327, sponsored by Sen. John Chafee (R-RI) has been introduced and referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Bill Provides Mental Health Care for Youth

Under current law, a foster child's access to health care through Medicaid ends at age 18. H.R. 1802's most important provision for young adults with mental disabilities would extend Medicaid to give youth ages 18 to 21 who are leaving foster care access to health and mental health services. The Medicaid extension would be accomplished by amending the Social Security Act to allow states to apply for flexible funding that they may spend for this purpose.

Funds Could Be Used for Other Valuable Services

These flexible funds could also be used for an array of other services for 18- to 21-year-olds, including:

• substance abuse prevention;
• vocational and employment training;
• training in daily-living skills; and
• room and board.

This flexibility would allow states to offer independent living services to children of various ages at various levels of independence, to offer different services in different parts of the state and to use a variety of providers to deliver services. The result is intended to be the creation of programs that are more appropriate to the circumstances of each child.

What You Can Do

No markup is yet scheduled on S. 1327. However, now is the time to urge lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee (listed below) to ensure that the estimated 20,000 youths who leave foster care each year will enter into productive adult lives by supporting the Chafee foster care independence bill.

Write: Honorable (first and last name), United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510.

Phone: call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask for your Senator's office. Ask to speak to the legislative assistant who handles child welfare issues.

Email: (use only as a last resort, it gets much less attention) forms at http://congress.org/.