VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Virginia Senate could vote Monday on a bill to cover housing costs for former foster youth attending the state's colleges and universities.
The bill, House Bill 700, was introduced by Del. Anne Ferrell Tata (R-Virginia Beach) in partnership with Connect With a Wish, a Virginia Beach nonprofit that supports foster youth throughout Hampton Roads while they're in the system and after they age out.
“Only three percent of kids in foster care actually graduate from college," said Colleen Luksik, the nonprofit's Vice President. ”When those kids overcome the odds, then I think they should have that same opportunity as everyone else.”
Luksik says the organization has already supported legislation to cover state tuition costs for former foster children with grants. It also partnered with Del. Tata on a law requiring colleges to cover housing for those students during breaks.
HB 700, which passed the House of Delegates unanimously in January, covers the rest of the year.
Del. Tata tells News 3 only a few hundred foster children — considered wards of the state — age out of the system each year and just a fraction attend college.
“The colleges and universities will be absorbing this," she said. "We’re talking about a handful of students (and) they belong to the state anyway and so it just makes sense that we would pay their room and board.”
The bill would also require colleges to assign a point person to help students who were in the foster system navigate school.
Tori Stone-Cramer, a sophomore at Old Dominion University, says she entered foster care during her senior year of high school. Throughout college, she tells News 3 that she's worried about how she's going to pay the bills.
“Will I be able to live here next semester? Will I have to drop out because I can’t afford it?," she said. “I’ve had to rely a lot on Connect With a Wish because I don’t have the money to pay for my housing.”
Luksik says former foster children are reluctant to take out loans because they don't have family to fall back on.
"It's too much for us to handle financially," said Luksik.
HB 700 is currently assigned to a subcommittee on Higher Education in the Senate. Del. Tata says the bill could come up for a vote on Monday and if it passes, she believes Governor Glenn Youngkin is prepared to sign it.
Michael Patterson, a sophomore at Norfolk State University who entered the foster system at 12 years old, says the legislation passing wouldn't only be a relief to him.
"It’s not just a benefit to me, but it’s also a benefit to all the other kids that want to go to school as well," he told News 3.
If passed, the bill would go into effect in July, Tata says, just months after Connect With a Wish celebrates its tenth anniversary on March 6.
Founder Joy Rios tells News 3 that getting the state to cover college costs for the youth it serves has been a major goal for her organization, which until now has fundraised to try and help fill the need.
CWW's second annual fundraising gala "Wish Upon a Star" is scheduled for March 16.
