CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new bill in the North Carolina General Assembly would provide assistance to foster care children who age out of the system without any family support.
The bill would allow foster children to apply for federal housing assistance when they turn 16. It would then give them three choices for where they want to live six months before they turn 18 and age out of the system.
That way, foster care children aren’t left scrambling on their 18th birthday and looking homelessness square in the face.
“It was scary because most of us just don’t have those family connections,” former foster child Jamole Callahan said. “If something goes wrong, they don’t know who to turn to and that’s scary.”
House lawmakers are working to bring the bill to the floor for a vote soon.
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