ENROLLED
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 171
BY REPRESENTATIVE WESLEY BISHOP
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to study and make
recommendations concerning the problem of homelessness among persons who have
aged out of foster care.
WHEREAS, House Concurrent Resolution No. 168 of this 2015 Regular Session of
the Legislature of Louisiana creates the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care; and
WHEREAS, as evidence by the passage of House Concurrent Resolution No. 168,
the legislature has a deep concern for the well-being of our state's young adults who have
been in foster care; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana has faced challenges in assisting this population since 2013
when funding for the Young Adult Program, which formerly provided financial assistance
for housing and education to young adults age eighteen to twenty-one who had aged out of
foster care, was eliminated through mid-year budget cuts; and
WHEREAS, national studies have shown that more than one in five former foster
youth will become homeless after the age of eighteen; and
WHEREAS, homeless persons with a foster care history are more likely than other
homeless persons to have their own children in foster care; and
WHEREAS, research conducted by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, a
leading policy institute focused on the well-being of children and youth, indicates that
among the greatest of several challenges faced by youth who age out of foster care is
achieving housing stability.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Children and
Family Services to study and make recommendations concerning the problem of
homelessness among persons who have aged out of foster care.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department, at the discretion of the secretary,
may conduct this study in connection with the work of the Task Force on Youth Aging Out
of Foster Care.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in developing the study, the department shall
engage, collaborate with, and obtain information and perspective from stakeholder groups
with appropriate expertise selected by the secretary.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall submit a written report of
its findings and recommendations to the House Committee on Health and Welfare on or
before February 1, 2016.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department, at the discretion of the secretary,
may include the report within any materials submitted to the legislature by the Task Force
on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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