The Bill Spill – August 2024

H.R. 7038

The House of Representatives proposed the Guaranteed Income for Foster Youth Act. Introduced by Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Robert Garcia of California, the bill proposes to provide guaranteed income for youth who have aged out of foster care. Should the bill be passed, all foster youth and those with disabilities who entered foster care after the age of 14 would receive $1,000 per month for a maximum of five years. This includes youth who exit the system after 16 years of age but are not yet 27 years old. The income would not exceed more than $12,000 a year for the individual. The bill would combat the high rates of unhoused youth who are more prone to housing insecurity once they exit the foster care system.

H.R. 8814

In June, The House of Representatives introduced the Strengthening Evidence-based Services Act of 2024. This act focuses on improving the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), which was passed in 2018. The FFPSA was designed to keep children out of foster care and keep families together through prevention services. These services are described as programs that keep children out of foster care. FFPSA intended to implement evidence-based programs in the states, however, many programs lacked funding due to the shortage of evidence-based research. Because there is little to no research on prevention services supporting the outcomes of families and foster youth, hardly any federal assistance has been given to these programs, thwarting any progress for these programs. The Strengthening Evidence-based Services Act of 2024 would provide a grant program through the Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services, which would help evaluate prevention services and establish more evidence that could result in federal funding.