Ohio House Bill No. 25 aims to improve educational opportunities for students with foster care experience by establishing the “Foster-to-College Scholarship Program,” requiring the Department of Education and Workforce to hire a full-time school foster care liaison, and allocating funding for these initiatives. The bill focuses on ensuring continuity in education for students in foster care and providing financial assistance for post-secondary education.
Key Themes and Ideas:
- Establishment of the Foster-to-College Scholarship Program: The central aim of the bill is to create a scholarship program to provide financial aid to eligible students with foster care or kinship care experience pursuing higher education.
- The program is set to begin in the 2025-2026 academic year.
- The scholarship covers the “cost of attendance” after deducting various other forms of financial aid, including federal Pell grants, state grants, Chafee ETV grants, and other scholarships.
- Private institutions can opt out of the program.
- Qualifying student is defined as a resident of Ohio who has been accepted for enrollment at an institution of higher education who has been placed in either of the following:
- Foster care at any time on or after the student’s thirteenth birthday;
- Noncertified kinship care at any time on or after the student’s thirteenth birthday and was, at any time, adjudicated an abused child, a neglected child, or a dependent child.
- Full-Time School Foster Care Liaison: The bill mandates the Department of Education and Workforce to hire a full-time school foster care liaison, provided sufficient funds are available. This position is crucial for facilitating services to keep students in their “school of origin” and ensuring smooth transitions if a change of school is necessary.
- The liaison’s duties include:
- Providing input on whether remaining in the school of origin is in the student’s best interest.
- Collaborating to ensure transportation and services to remain in the school of origin.
- Ensuring immediate enrollment and transition planning when a school change is necessary.
- Participating in transition planning meetings and interagency collaboration teams.
- Providing information about the Foster-to-College Scholarship Program.
- Definition of “School of Origin”: The bill clearly defines “school of origin” as the school the student was enrolled in at the time of each foster care placement. This includes the designated receiving school at the next grade level for feeder school or zone patterns.
- “School of origin” means the school in which a student was enrolled at the time of each placement into foster care.
- If the student’s foster care placement changes, the school of origin is the school in which the student is enrolled at the time of the change in placement.
- Foster Care Student Navigators: The chancellor shall enter into an agreement with the same organization engaged by the department of job and family services to administer the Chafee ETV program to employ four full-time employees to serve as foster care student navigators. The navigators shall work with school district and school foster care liaisons to identify prospective qualifying students.
Key Quotes:
- On the purpose of the School Foster Care Liaison: “The school foster care liaison shall work with public children services agencies, private child placing agencies, and the department of job and family services to facilitate services to keep students placed in foster care in the student’s school of origin or, if the public children services agency or private child placing agency determines that it is not in a student’s best interest to remain in the school of origin, facilitate the prompt and appropriate placement, transfer, and enrollment of such a student in another public school.”
- On the Scholarship Program: “Under the program, beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year, each qualifying student shall be awarded a foster-to-college scholarship based on the student’s federal need analysis. The amount of the foster-to-college scholarship shall equal the applicant’s recognized cost of attendance after deducting all of the following…” (followed by a list of other potential aid sources).
- On the definition of a qualifying student: “Qualifying student’ means a resident of Ohio…who has been placed in either of the following: (a) Foster care at any time on or after the student’s thirteenth birthday; (b) Noncertified kinship care at any time on or after the student’s thirteenth birthday and was, at any time, adjudicated an abused child…a neglected child…or a dependent child.”
Financial Implications:
- The bill appropriates $7,500,000 for each fiscal year 2026 and 2027 for the Foster-to-College Scholarship Program.
- $15,000,000 cash transfer from the General Revenue Fund to the Foster-to-College Scholarship Fund (Fund 5AM1).
- A portion of the Foster-to-College Scholarship may be allocated to the same organization engaged by the Department of Job and Family Services to administer the Chafee ETV Program to employ four full-time foster care student navigators
Potential Impacts:
- Increased College Access: The scholarship program has the potential to significantly increase college access and affordability for students with foster care experience.
- Improved Educational Stability: The school foster care liaison could promote greater stability in education by helping students remain in their school of origin whenever possible and facilitating smoother transitions when necessary.
- Enhanced Support System: The combined efforts of the liaison and the scholarship program could create a more robust support system for foster youth pursuing higher education.
Outstanding Questions:
- The bill hinges the hiring of the school foster care liaison on the availability of sufficient funds, which leaves some uncertainty about the implementation of this aspect of the bill.
- The bill discusses a private institution’s ability to opt out of the Foster-to-College Scholarship Program, it does not mention anything about institutions that might want to opt out of the navigator program.
Conclusion:
Ohio House Bill No. 25 represents a significant step towards improving educational outcomes for students in foster care by removing some financial barriers to higher education and by promoting educational stability. The success of the bill will likely depend on adequate funding and the effective implementation of the school foster care liaison role and the foster care student navigator roles.