II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1429 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 20, 2005 Mrs. Murray (for herself and Mr. DeWine) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to assist homeless students in obtaining postsecondary education, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Improving Access to Education for Students Who Are Homeless or in Foster Care Act.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)According to a study of foster care children in the State of Washington, a child who enters foster care is likely to have poorer academic outcomes than a child not in foster care, even after controlling for a variety of factors such as poverty. (2)Youth in foster care— (A)are less likely to be enrolled in college preparatory classes than non-foster care youth; and (B)are more than twice as likely as non-foster care youth (37 percent as compared to 16 percent) to have dropped out of secondary school. (3)50 percent of foster youth in the United States graduate from secondary school, compared with 85 percent of youth overall. (4)70 percent of teens in foster care desire to go to college. (5)A report from Casey Family Programs indicated that, nationwide, less than 27 percent of foster youth who graduated from secondary school went on to college, as compared to 52 percent of the general population. Moreover, the college dropout rate among foster youth is far higher than the rate among other students. (6)A May 2002 report issued by the University of California at Berkeley found that, of more than 3,200 foster care youth who attended a community college from 1992 through 2000— (A)39 percent earned between 1 and 17 credits; (B)40 percent of the foster care youth earned no credits; and (C)many of the foster care youth did not attempt to take classes for credit, but rather were enrolled in remedial or other non-credit classes. (7)Unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness often have left home for their own survival. (8)Although children and youth who experience homelessness represent the full range of academic talents and abilities, homelessness creates serious barriers to school enrollment, attendance, and success. (9)The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.) requires State educational agencies and local educational agencies to ensure that homeless children and youth receive a free and appropriate public education, but these provisions do not reach beyond secondary education. (10)The barriers created by homelessness to kindergarten through grade 12 education (extreme poverty, residential instability, lack of documentation, and lack of awareness of programs and resources) often are also barriers to postsecondary education. (11)Higher education offers students experiencing homelessness the best hope for escaping poverty and homelessness as adults.