A Senate-approved bill to allow foster kids to stay in the system until they turn 21, or graduate high school, which ever happens first, cleared a House committee. Currently, foster kids are forced out of the foster care program when they turn 18, regardless of their high school degree progress. Louisiana Budget Project Coordinator Dylan Waguespack says hundreds of kids are effected every year.
Waguespack says, "it's about 150 to 200 youth a year, so over the past six state fiscal years that's 1,014 teenagers who have aged out of foster care."
A foster care teenager by the name of Ella recounted the story of how earlier families difficulties put her behind in school, and under current law are putting her chance of obtaining her diploma at risk.
Ella says, "I am behind and school and even with extra classes, I will not be done by 18 years old. I want the opportunity to graduate high school. I want the support and guidance of my foster family, my workers, and my counselors just a little bit longer."
Bossier City Senator Ryan Gatti says kids who age out before graduating are at high risk of falling into homelessness or crime.
Gatti says, "When these children age out, there are people waiting for them. These kids end up in laundromats and under bridges, and their teachers are going and finding them."