HLS 15RS-2722 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 168
BY REPRESENTATIVE BILLIOT
CHILDREN/FOSTER CARE: Creates the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
to study public policy and financing options for youth aging out of foster care
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To create the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care to study and explore the public
3 policy and financing options for programs that could assist youth aging out of foster
4 care to achieve successful independence once they reach the age of majority, and to
5 require the task force to report its findings and recommendations to the House
6 Committee on Health and Welfare and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
7 no later than February 1, 2016.
8 WHEREAS, though attaining a permanent family and maintaining permanent
9connections are priorities for all youth in foster care, not all such youth achieve these goals
10prior to exiting foster care; and
11 WHEREAS, national studies indicate that more than one in five former foster youth
12will become homeless after obtaining the age of eighteen; and
13 WHEREAS, only fifty-eight percent of former foster youth will graduate high school
14by age nineteen compared to seventy-one percent of all nineteen year olds in Louisiana; and
15 WHEREAS, seventy-one percent of young women who are former foster youth will
16become pregnant by age twenty-one, facing higher rates of unemployment, criminal
17conviction, reliance on public assistance, and involvement in the child welfare system; and
18 WHEREAS, at the age of twenty-four, only half of former foster youth are employed;
19and
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HCR NO. 168
1 WHEREAS, fewer than three percent of former foster youth will earn a college
2degree by age twenty-five compared to twenty-eight percent of all twenty-five year olds
3nationally; and
4 WHEREAS, one in four former foster youth will be involved in the justice system
5within two years of leaving the foster care system; and
6 WHEREAS, it is currently recognized that most young adults upon reaching age
7eighteen are not fully capable of assuming complete independence and becoming successful
8without continued support, guidance, and assistance from parents, family, and others; and
9 WHEREAS, foster care youth who exit care at age eighteen without a permanent
10family may lack the parental and familial support necessary to support their successful
11transition to adulthood; and
12 WHEREAS, while current law provides for foster care services to youth in foster
13care up to age eighteen, youth exiting foster care after age eighteen could benefit from
14additional supports and services to successfully transition to adulthood; and
15 WHEREAS, in Fiscal Year 2013-2014, one hundred sixty-two foster care youth
16exited foster care at age eighteen in Louisiana.
17 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
18create the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care to study and explore the public
19policy and financing options for programs and services that could assist youth aging out of
20foster care to achieve successful independence once they reach the age of majority.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be composed of the
22following members:
23 (1) The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services or his
24designee.
25 (2) The secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals or his designee.
26 (3) The president of the Juvenile Judges Association or his designee.
27 (4) A member of the Louisiana Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
28Association.
29 (5) The executive director of the Louisiana Association of Children and Family
30Agencies or his designee.
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HCR NO. 168
1 (6) The executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, Louisiana
2Chapter, or his designee.
3 (7) One member appointed by the board of directors of Louisiana Progress.
4 (8) One representative of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops.
5 (9) The president of LouisianaChildren.org or his designee.
6 (10) The executive director of the Louisiana Foster and Adoptive Parent Association
7or his designee.
8 (11) The executive director of HP Serve or his designee.
9 (12) The executive director of Covenant House - New Orleans or his designee.
10 (13) The executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission or his designee.
11 (14) The state superintendent of education or his designee.
12 (15) The president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System or
13his designee.
14 (16) The president of the Louisiana Board of Regents or his designee.
15 (17) One representative from the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
16Independent Living Provider Coalition.
17 (18) The executive director of the Louisiana Housing Corporation or his designee.
18 (19) Two former foster care youth who have aged out of the foster care system
19chosen randomly from a list of names submitted by the other members of the task force.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall convene no later than August
2115, 2015, and shall be chaired by the secretary of the Department of Children and Family
22Services, or his designee, who shall be responsible for calling all meetings. The task force
23shall be staffed by the Department of Children and Family Services. The majority of the total
24membership shall constitute a quorum and any official action of the task force shall require
25a vote of a majority of the quorum present and voting.
26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall submit a written report of
27its findings and recommendations to the members of the House Committee on Health and
28Welfare and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare no later than February 1, 2016.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted
30to the secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services.
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HCR NO. 168
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 168 Original 2015 Regular Session Billiot
Creates the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care to study and explore the public
policy and financing options for programs that could assist youth aging out of foster care to
achieve successful independence once they reach the age of majority and requires the task
force to report its findings and recommendations to the House and Senate committees on
health and welfare no later than Feb. 1, 2016.
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