[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2508 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2508

  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the ability of 
     foster care youths to attend and succeed in higher education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2005

 Mr. George Miller of California (for himself, Mr. Davis of Illinois, 
 Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Holt, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Payne, Mrs. McCarthy, Mr. 
   Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Owens, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Stark, Mr. 
  Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Wexler, and Ms. Woolsey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the ability of 
     foster care youths to attend and succeed in higher education.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foster Opportunities for Success 
Through Higher Education Reform'' or the ``FOSTER Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Recent studies by the Center for the Study of Social 
        Policy, Casey Family Programs, and the Packard Foundation 
        demonstrate that many of the 20,000 children aging out of 
        foster care each year face unique challenges as they enter the 
        adult world: a greater likelihood of becoming teen parents, 
        dependence on public assistance, participation in substance 
        abuse, homelessness, and involvement with the criminal justice 
        system compared to youth in the general population.
            (2) According to a study of foster care children in 
        Washington State, a child who enters foster care is likely to 
        have poorer academic outcomes than children not in foster care, 
        even after controlling for a variety of factors such as 
        poverty.
            (3) A follow-up study in Wisconsin found that 37 percent of 
        youth had not completed their high school education when 
        interviewed 12 to 18 months after discharge from foster care.
            (4) A study of African American males in the Ohio foster 
        care system found that in the sixth grade, African American 
        males in foster care had significantly lower scores than 1 or 
        more of the 4 comparison groups (all students, all African 
        American students, all male students, all African American male 
        students).
            (5) By the ninth grade, the African American males in 
        foster care had significantly lower scores than all of the 
        comparison groups.
            (6) These youth in foster care are less likely to be 
        enrolled in college preparatory classes and are more than twice 
        as likely as non-foster care youth (37 percent vs. 16 percent) 
        to have dropped out of high school.
            (7) A 2002 report issued by the Child Welfare League of 
        America (CWLA) found that more than 26 percent of foster 
        children have repeated a grade at least once since the seventh 
        grade; 60 percent have failed a class in the previous year; 
        over a third were below grade level in written language, math 
        and readings; foster youth have higher absentee and tardy rates 
        than their non-foster peers.
            (8) A report from Casey Family Programs indicated that, 
        nationwide, fewer than 27 percent of foster youth who graduated 
        high school went on to college as compared to 52 percent of the 
        general population.
            (9) A May 2002, report issued by the University of 
        California at Berkeley found that of more than 3200 foster care 
        youth who attended a community college from 1992 through 2000, 
        39 percent earned between 1 and 17 credits. Forty percent of 
        the foster care youth earned no credits. Many did not attempt 
        to take classes for credit, but rather were enrolled in 
        remedial or other non-credit classes.

SEC. 3. FOSTER CARE YOUTH OUTREACH AND HOUSING SERVICES.

    Subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

      ``CHAPTER 4--FOSTER CARE YOUTH OUTREACH AND HOUSING SERVICES

``SEC. 408A. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--From the amounts appropriated under 
section 408E(a), the Secretary shall provide competitive grants to 
public and private institutions of higher education to provide 
technical assistance and supportive services to foster care youth who 
are prospective students to prepare for, enter, and remain in such 
institutions.
    ``(b) Authorized Services.--Funds provided under this section may 
be used to provide--
            ``(1) academic counseling;
            ``(2) college financial-aid counseling; and
            ``(3) other appropriate support services intended to 
        improve the delivery of services to foster care youth.
    ``(c) Applications.--An institution seeking a grant under this 
section shall submit an application to the Secretary. Such application 
shall--
            ``(1) contain assurances that the applicant will--
                    ``(A) evaluate--
                            ``(i) the extent to which the institution's 
                        current programs are meeting the needs of 
                        foster care youth; and
                            ``(ii) how the institution's outreach and 
                        retention services can be improved;
                    ``(B) report to the Secretary on current and 
                expanded services and efforts to increase the number of 
                foster care youth who attend the institution and remain 
                in school to earn a degree or certificate;
                    ``(C) expand representation on student body 
                governing boards to include at least one former foster 
                care youth that will serve to advise the institution on 
                student life issues, with particular attention to the 
                unique barriers for foster care youth in accessing and 
                completing postsecondary education; and
                    ``(D) coordinate with the State social services and 
                child welfare departments in order to facilitate the 
                outreach and technical assistance efforts for 
                prospective students who are foster care youth; and
            ``(2) contain such additional information and assurances as 
        the Secretary may require.
    ``(d) Selection of Applicants.--The Secretary shall select 
institutions of higher education for the award of grants under this 
section on the basis of identifying those institutions that are most 
likely to be able to successfully carry out the program under this 
section and serve the goal of expanding higher educational 
opportunities for foster care youth.

``SEC. 408B. HOUSING FOR FOSTER CARE YOUTH.

    ``(a) Grants Authorized.--From the amounts appropriated under 
section 408E(b), the Secretary shall provide grants to institutions of 
higher education to ensure basic housing during the regular academic 
school year, including interim housing during regular periods of 
dormitory closing (excluding summer break), for those foster care youth 
living in college dormitories.
    ``(b) Applications.--An institution seeking a grant under this 
section shall submit an application to the Secretary containing such 
information as the Secretary may require.
    ``(c) Selection of Applicants.--The Secretary shall select 
institutions of higher education for the award of grants under this 
section on the basis of identifying those institutions that are most 
likely to be able to successfully carry out the program under this 
section and serve the goal of expanding higher educational 
opportunities for foster care youth.

``SEC. 408C. COORDINATION.

    ``(a) Coordination With the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence 
Program.--The Secretary shall ensure that activities under this chapter 
are coordinated with programs under section 477(i) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 6383).
    ``(b) Coordination With TRIO and GEARUP.--Each recipient of funds 
under the programs authorized by chapters 1 and 2 of this subpart shall 
identify services to foster care youth as a permissible service in 
those programs, and ensure that such youth receive supportive services, 
including mentoring, tutoring, and other services provided by those 
programs.

``SEC. 408D. ELIGIBLE FOSTER CARE YOUTH.

    ``(a) In General.--An individual shall be treated as a foster care 
youth eligible for services and benefits under this chapter if such 
individual is--
            ``(1) a youth for whom the State or an entity licensed by 
        the State has responsibility for placement, care, or 
        supervision, and includes youth in foster homes, group homes, 
        or kinship care; or
            ``(2) a high school senior or student currently enrolled in 
        a postsecondary education program who is older than 18 years 
        old and is no longer living with his or her foster family, as 
        long as he or she was under State care until age 18.
    ``(b) Kinship Care.--For a youth to be eligible as receiving 
kinship care, the State or an entity licensed by the State must have 
intervened on the youth's behalf and a court of competent jurisdiction 
must have issued a court order of dependency and the court order or the 
State or the entity licensed by the State must have placed the youth in 
legal kinship care. A youth who is residing with his or her relatives 
in any other type of situation is not eligible as receiving kinship 
care.

``SEC. 408E. AUTHORIZATION.

    ``(a) Technical Assistance and Outreach Services.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated for grants under section 408A, such sums 
as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006 and for each of the 5 
succeeding fiscal years.
    ``(b) Housing for Foster Care Youth.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for grants under section 408B, such sums as may be 
necessary for fiscal year 2006 and for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 
years.''.

SEC. 4. FAIR TREATMENT FOR FOSTER CARE YOUTH IN FINANCIAL NEED 
              ANALYSIS.

    (a) Simplifying for Students With Special Circumstances.--Section 
480 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv) is amended 
by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Independent Student.--
            ``(1) Definition.--The term ``independent'', when used with 
        respect to a student, means any individual who--
                    ``(A) is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of 
                the award year;
                    ``(B) is an orphan, in foster care, or a ward of 
                the court, or was in foster care or a ward of the court 
                until the individual reached the age of 18;
                    ``(C) is an emancipated youth as defined by his or 
                her state of legal residence or is in legal 
                guardianship as defined by section 475(7) of the Social 
                Security Act;
                    ``(D) is a veteran of the Armed Forces of the 
                United States (as defined in subsection (c)(1));
                    ``(E) is a graduate or professional student;
                    ``(F) is a married individual;
                    ``(G) has legal dependents other than a spouse; or
                    ``(H) is a student for whom a financial aid 
                administrator makes a documented determination of 
                independence by reason of unusual circumstances.
            ``(2) Simplifying the dependency override process.--Nothing 
        in this subsection shall prohibit a financial aid administrator 
        to make a determination of independence under paragraph (1)(H) 
        based upon a documented determination of independence under 
        such paragraph previously made by another financial aid 
        administrator in the same application year.''.
    (b) Tailoring Electronic Applications for Students With Special 
Circumstances.--Section 483(a) of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1090(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(8) Applications for students seeking a documented 
        determination of independence.--In the case of dependent 
        students seeking a documented determination of independence by 
        a financial aid administrator, as defined by section 480(d), 
        nothing in this section shall prohibit the Secretary from --
                    ``(A) allowing such students to indicate their 
                special circumstance on an electronic form developed 
                pursuant for this section;
                    ``(B) collecting and processing on a preliminary 
                basis data provided by such students using the 
                electronic forms developed pursuant for this section; 
                and
                    ``(C) distributing such data to institutions of 
                higher education, guaranty agencies, and States for the 
                purposes of processing loan applications and 
                determining need and eligibility for institutional and 
                State financial aid awards on a preliminary basis, 
                pending a documented determination of independence by a 
                financial aid administrator.''.
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