[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S7073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. COLEMAN (for himself and Ms. Landrieu):
  S. 1287. A bill to amend the definition of independent student for 
purposes of the need analysis in the Higher Education Act of 1965 to 
include older adopted students; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, as United States Senators, we are well 
aware of the difficulty in making tough decisions. But, a tough 
decision for a thirteen-year-old foster care child shouldn't be 
choosing between being adopted and having a permanent loving, stable, 
and secure family, or attending college for a promising future. Today, 
I am proud to be joined by my friend, Senator Mary Landrieu from 
Louisiana in introducing the Fostering Adoption To Further Student 
Achievement Act because we believe all youth deserve both a loving 
family and a future of hope.
  Our legislation promotes older adoptions of foster care youth by not 
later penalizing the adopting family when their student applies for 
student Federal financial aid.
  We've heard from former foster teens across our Nation who have 
stated that they were better off ``aging'' out of the foster care 
system than being adopted by a family because of a fear of losing 
student Federal financial aid because as a foster student they don't 
have to report any parental income on their student financial aid 
application.
  Our legislation provides a solution by amending the definition of 
``independent student'' to include foster care youth who were adopted 
after the age of thirteen in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Thus, 
the family and student would not be penalized on their Federal 
financial aid as their classification would be determined by only the 
student's ability to pay. Most prospective adopting parents would not 
have financially planned for an older teen becoming part of their 
family. Our legislation offers an incentive to promote older adoptions 
rather than having the teen stay in foster families until they ``age 
out.''
  The numbers are startling and its time we act. Currently, 20,000 
youth ``age'' out of the foster care system each year with 30 percent 
of these youth incarcerated within 12 months of doing so. There are 
523,000 children in foster care with nearly half the kids over the age 
of 10. Children in foster care are twice as likely as the rest of the 
population to drop out before finishing high school. Several foster 
care alumni studies indicate that within three years after leaving 
foster care: only 54 percent had earned their high school diploma, only 
14 percent had graduated from a four-year college, and 25 to 44 percent 
had experienced homelessness.
  Statistics show youth that are adopted out of the foster care system 
attend college, have stable lives, have a permanent family, and have a 
future of hope. One to two years of community college coursework 
significantly increases the likelihood of economic self-sufficiency. A 
college degree is the single greatest factor in determining access to 
better job opportunities and higher earnings.
  The Fostering Adoption To Further Student Achievement Act ensures 
that children don't have to make a tough decision between choosing to 
have a family or an education.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1287

       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 ``Fostering Adoption to 
     Further Student Achievement Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO INDEPENDENT STUDENT.

       Section 480(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1087vv(d)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' after the 
     semicolon;
       (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; or''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8) was adopted from the foster care system when the 
     individual was 13 years of age or older.''.
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