Bush Signs Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, October 7, 2008
Y.O.U.T.H. Trainer Maggie Tuazon Speaks at the Select Committe on Foster Care Summit before Governor Schwarzenegger signs 8 bills that will improve our foster care system.
On October 7th, President Bush signed H.R. 6893,
the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act. Described as the
most significant federal child welfare legislation in over a decade, it includes a range
of provisions, including the creation of a federal subsidized guardianship program for
kinship providers, new requirements regarding health and education coordination, expanded
adoption incentives, federal support for tribal foster care and additional funding to promote
permanency. For those serving transition-age youth, one of the most significant provisions of
the legislation is a state option to extend federal funding for youth in foster care to age
21, a policy currently implemented in several states using state-only funding and included in
the recently released recommendations of the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children
in Foster Care.
