Supporting the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Care Youth Act

According to Massachusetts Congresswoman, Katherine Clark, in U.S. public schools, more than 1.3 million children and youth are homeless and nearly 428,000 children are in foster care. These student students are high-risk of dropping out of high school and less likely to attend or even graduate from a post-secondary educational institute. This is due to the multiple barriers that students must face in order to attend school and causes a disconnect for the students. Many people ask how can we expect students to become successful in graduating from high school and gaining a higher education; this done by providing support and educational access This petition is to support the Senate Bill # 1795, which is also known as, the Higher Education Access & Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act of 2017. The proposed bill aims to eliminate the barriers to higher education for homeless and youth in foster care that are under the age of 23-year-old by working collaboration with colleges and Universities to improve the services. Universities and college are required to reform the financial aid process by simplifying the determination and verification process since most homeless and foster care youth won’t have access to parental documents by ensuring that common documents would be accepted. In addition, the bill changed the definition of independence for students who are under the age of 23 that are unaccompanied. Some of the following services, youth would have access to is adequate housing, a single point of contact that would assist with gain access to community services for their support with higher education. They would also be linked to programs such as the Federal Trio Program that provides mentoring, tutoring among other services , Talent Search that empowers student to finish high school then attend college and provides financial assistance, Upward Bound that assist with skills for college, Student Support Services that improves financial, English, and economic literacy, GEAR UP which is an early awareness and college ready focused program that assist low-income student to prepare for college in high school, and Educational Opportunity Center that provides FASFA assistants as well as financial and academic assistant on campus. Students are also eligible for Federal Work-Study Programs and in-state tuition rate to help them with financial assistance. The NASW Code of Ethics values would, in fact, support this bill because it addresses the social injustice of an alienated population that was excluded from access to services provided by the higher education systems. Youths were unable to gain a higher education due to multiple barriers and adversities they have to face at a young age. This bill provides students with the opportunity for success, and decrease at-risk high school dropout and college retention by increasing the amount of access for support services. Signing this petition will help give students that have been excluded from the program for higher education and provides with a fair and equal chance for success in higher education. This would then lead to students gaining access to secure high paying jobs which have them escape from the poverty cycle they were placed into by society. Remember Higher Education is the key to the American Dream