Bachmann Re-Introduces School Choice for Foster Kids Act
Bipartisan Bill Creates New Opportunities for Foster Children
Washington, D.C.,
Apr 23 -
Today, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-06) re-introduced the School Choice for Foster Kids Act, bipartisan legislation to help foster children gain access to quality, stable educations early in life.
“Children in foster care face a number of challenges. Many of them have endured abuse or neglect and often their first foster home placement isn’t their last,” said Bachmann. “Many foster children must change schools whenever they change homes, causing them to be uprooted from their daily routine and separating them from their friends and the teachers who are familiar with their needs.”
Currently, when foster children change homes, they often must transfer schools if their new home is located in a different school district. The bipartisan School Choice for Foster Kids Act would give states the flexibility to make younger foster children eligible for education vouchers – currently designated only for students 16 to 23 years old – through the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. It would allow foster parents to send a child to his or her original school or to choose a school that can undertake the unique challenges their foster child may face.
“Instead of separating foster children from trusted friends and teachers, we should give them the opportunity to stay at a school if it is fulfilling their needs. We should allow families to choose the school that is best equipped to serve their foster child. At a time when they need stability the most, we should strive to meet that need,” said Bachmann.
Bachmann, whose was a foster mother to 23 children, has been an advocate for at-risk youth in Congress. In the 110th Congress, the House passed Bachmann’s bipartisan resolution to honor the contributions of all public child welfare agencies, nonprofit organizations and private entities dedicated to finding homes for foster children and assisting foster families.
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