A bill called the “Fostering Success Act” is waiting for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature to become law.
The bill creates a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit to help unadopted teens who age out of the foster care system when they turn 18 years of age.
The measure was one of Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan’s priorities for the current legislative session. The bill was approved by both the state House and Senate by March 30 and sent to the governor for his signature.
MORE: Dads line up outside Deer Chase Elementary School
The bill creates a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit to help unadopted teens who age out of the foster care system when they turn 18 years of age.
“Each year, hundreds of aged-out foster youths fall into this vulnerable sector of Georgia’s population,” Duncan said in a news release. “The measure passed today creates an additional avenue to ensure our commitment to Georgia’s foster youth is fulfilled by positioning them to lead successful and gratifying lives.”
Daniel Evans, Planning Development supervisor from Augusta’s Housing and Development department helped advise the Augusta Commission’s Task Force for Homelessness develop its strategic plan. He said foster children is one category they identified as needing help.
“That is a category of people that we encounter that has almost no natural support network,” he said. “And so, any institutional support you can create for people who may lack individual advocates on their behalf is the vital nature of that because so often we see people that are largely voiceless in that situation. It gets back to the overriding theme that we’ve been talking about. Intentionality is putting a resource that is intended to fix the problem of someone who lacks a resource.”
Once signed, it is expected to generate up to $20 million a year to help the teens transition into adulthood. The funds will help provide wraparound services that support areas such as postsecondary education, medical and mental health care, housing and transportation.
MORE: First rodeo starts in Grovetown Friday and will help vets, disabled children
Commissioner Jordan Johnson, co-chairman of the task force, said that plays into what the task force is trying to develop.
“The homeless task force has created a framework for critical wraparound services and housing for homeless individuals and foster kids, once they’re released out of the out of the system. If they have no housing plan, they are considered homeless,” he said. “So, I think in this regard, we have now at our disposal a framework, because that’s what it is, to reach out to the state, our legislators and folks in the in the necessary areas to allocate resources to critical projects.”
The full text the bill is at: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59605
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
