House Bill 1313 has been signed into law, creating the Kinkade Scholarship Fund. It’s named after former foster youth Bill Kinkade who now serves in the state legislature. Child Protective Services Commissioner Andrea Sanders says college seems out of reach for many foster youth because of the high costs.
“It’s designed to really meet all of the costs of getting an education so that they’re not trying to hold down three jobs and still show up for class. Not worried about where they’re going to sleep right after exams end,” says Sanders. ”It’s a holistic approach to really giving them that financial support.”
26-year-old Andanella Lawyer of Jackson entered the foster care system at age 4 and paid her own way through college by taking on debt. She says the scholarship can help open doors for futures of foster children.
Lawyer says “I tell youth that’s younger than me all the time that they can take everything else away from you, but they can never take your knowledge away from you.”
Additionally, a donation has been made through the Dave Thomas Foundation to encourage more adoptions for older youth. President and CEO Rita Soronen says children over the age of 9 are just as worthy of being adopted as a newborn.
“So they implement this evidence-based model. They begin to build this caseload of 10-15 children who have been in foster care the longest, says Soronen. “They do a deep dive into their case file and find potential adoptive contacts. And then they begin to make those matches happen. They stay with the child until permanency happens, and they stay with the child post-permanency.”
Soronen says there will be 10 experts spread across the state to help with adoptions.
