Making Higher Education a Reality for Foster and Homeless Youth

One and a half years ago, Briah was a college sophomore and about to turn 21. She was a good student and worked as a youth advocate in Youth Fostering Change, one of Juvenile Law Center's youth engagement programs. Briah was also about to become homeless when she aged out of foster care on her 21^st birthday. With no family or support system, school was her entire life and best hope for the future. Would she have to quit school to get a fulltime job to pay and avoid living on the street? Ultimately, she received help from individuals who heard her story at an advocacy event. Although generous, this support didn’t improve the child welfare system or reduce others’ risk of becoming homeless.

Today, homelessness is still a scary possibility for foster youth attending college. The holiday season should be an exciting, happy time, but college students who are in foster care often don’t have anywhere to go when dorms close for holiday breaks. They wonder where they will live and what they may have to do to survive. These young adults face homelessness, dropping out of college, and losing their hard-won stability. The child welfare system must work to find family and permanent homes for youth in foster care so that they have a place to go on college breaks or when they need family support. At the same time, federal legislation could help provide homeless and foster youth with better support as they pursue higher education. Such laws would help these vulnerable young people not only during holiday breaks, but also throughout the school year so that they can succeed  and graduate.  

Briah speaking at an advocacy event in 2013.

Recently, members of the U.S. House and Senate introduced the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act of 2015 (S. 2267/H.R. 4043). This law would help improve access to higher education for foster and homeless youth. It would also ensure that more homeless and foster youth would have necessary support and financial aid to help them graduate from college (currently, less than 3% of foster youth earn a college degree). Notably, the law includes a provision that would require colleges and universities to develop a plan to help homeless and foster youth access housing resources during and between semesters.

The law would also remove barriers and make college more affordable for homeless and foster youth by:

• Clarifying which homeless young adults can be considered independent students and get the full financial aid they need; 
• Streamlining the FAFSA questions for homeless and foster youth;
• Easing the verification and determination process for homeless youth; and 
• Providing homeless and foster youth with in-state tuition rates to minimize the impact of their mobility and reduce barriers to college attendance due to lack of financial support.

The law would support homeless and foster youth with college retention, success, and completion by:

• Designating single points of contact at institutions of higher education to assist homeless and foster youth to access and complete higher education, and other resources; and  
• Ensuring college access programs collaborate with child welfare agencies, homeless service providers, and school districts to identify, conduct outreach to, and recruit homeless and foster youth to tell them about opportunities for higher education and training.

Homeless youth and youth in foster care encounter many barriers to higher education. This law would make a huge difference in their lives so that they can celebrate the holidays without fear of homelessness and look forward to a bright future. To learn more about how this federal law could help foster and homeless youth access higher education, download this whitepaper.

What can you do to help?

1. Call your Representative in the House and Senate and encourage them to support the bill.
2. Become a foster parent for a youth in care and provide support as they pursue postsecondary education and training.
3. Contact your state or local independent living programs and colleges and offer to become a host for a foster of homeless youth during the holidays and breaks. 

Header image credit: COD Newsroom, licensed by CC 2.0.