LISTEN: GPB's Donna Lowry talks to Georgia state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta) about the growing challenges facing older youth in Georgia as they age out of foster care without permanent families.
In this episode of Lawmakers Huddle, host Donna Lowry explores the growing challenges facing older youth in Georgia as they age out of foster care without permanent families. She talks to Georgia state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta) about what lawmakers are learning from testimony before a Senate study committee. Kirkpatrick discusses the gaps in housing, education, health care, and mental health support for foster care youth aged 16 to 21, and the legislation the committee plans to introduce when the Georgia General Assembly convenes in January.
Donna Lowry: As more young people in Georgia age out of foster care without permanent families, many are stepping into adulthood facing serious challenges, from unstable housing and limited financial support to gaps in education, job training, and access to health care. State lawmakers are taking a closer look at how to support them. A bipartisan Senate study committee, chaired by Sen. Kate Kirkpatrick of Marietta, is reviewing existing resources for 16- to 21-year-olds and identifying critical gaps in services. Sen. Kirkpatrick, welcome to Lawmakers Huddle.
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: Thank you so much, Donna. It's always a pleasure.
Donna Lowry: Let's start with the reason for the study committee created under Senate Resolution 310. Why focus on older youth and foster care right now?
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: Well, Donna, you may remember that a couple of years ago we had a sort of a more general study committee about foster care and adoption. And we uncovered a number of things that needed to be addressed, particularly with regards to moving people towards permanency faster. And we passed several bills on that. But then we never have time during the legislative session to really do a deep dive into things because we're moving legislation through the process. So, we realized this year that we needed to spend more time talking about the complex challenges that kids aging out of the system are facing. And that initiative was really pushed by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and his office, and they've been very involved with the whole children and families conversation ever since the committee was created in 2023. And so, this study committee was specifically focused on transition-aged youth. We discovered a lot of things related to some of the things you've already mentioned.
Donna Lowry: You heard directly from young adults who've aged out of the system. What have you learned about how aging out of foster care without a permanent family or a support system affects a young person's ability to succeed on their own?
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: We heard great testimony from a couple of young people who have been very successful as they navigate aging out of foster care. And it really resonated a lot with the committee to hear about the things that they had to work their way through and persevere through, particularly with regards to education, and that primarily comes into play when people are changing districts. They tend to lose credits that can lead to losing a year and having to repeat a year. And so we're likely gonna be addressing that this year.
We also realized that there are resources that are available through the federal government that are not being fully utilized in Georgia from the standpoint of housing. And so we were just on the cusp of getting a meeting together with Housing and Urban Development staff who had volunteered to come down and talk to us to meet with the department, to meet with the advocacy community, and try to figure out some solutions to how we can take better advantage. And at that exact moment, the government shut down. So now that the government's opened up again, we'll be able to move forward on the housing piece.
Donna Lowry: Can you talk a little bit about what support the state currently provides to 16-to-21-year-olds preparing to leave foster care?
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: Well, yeah, we have a whole department within DFACS that deals with the aging out population. And as the kids in foster care age out, they have a sort of an exit interview with the staff to help them learn what resources are available to them, particularly with regards to education and also housing programs.
But one of the things that we identified is that there's a big drop off after K-12 in kids that go on to pursue postsecondary education and that our university system and our technical college system both have programs for kids that are in higher education have been in foster care. And it's very hands on and provides a lot of sort of wraparound attention what's already a challenging environment for people that age. That could be more robust in some of the smaller schools
We also have a number of people working on workforce types of setups where they're training youth, particularly that have been involved in the juvenile justice system, to fill some of these jobs that we sorely need filled in Georgia. These are things that exist now, but they need more attention.
And, we also identified that the Fostering Success Tax Credit has been a great tool for getting people the resources that they need, but it's not fully utilized. And we need to get the word out about that program because a lot of the providers told us that's been a really positive thing that they can use to help the people get what they need.
Donna Lowry: One of the areas of testimony that interested me the most, and I'm sure for you too as a doctor, and that was about the barriers to basic health care and mental health needs of children who've been in and out of foster care homes all of their lives.
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: We talked a lot about mental health and about trauma, and certainly there are resources within the school system that can help with that. All the kids in foster care have Medicaid benefits, and we have the same problems with that that we do in general with workforce issues: not enough providers, not enough access through Medicaid to those services.
One of the things we really focused on was autism. And it turns out that kids in foster care are six times more likely to be diagnosed with autism as the general population. And we know, from a lot of research, that early diagnosis and treatment for autism is really important. We really need to be screening all the kids that come into foster care for autism and going ahead and getting them in early treatment because we think it's a vicious cycle, and that many times kids are autistic, particularly if they're not diagnosed and treated, end up in foster care because the parents can't handle it or don't know what to do. And it also ends up with multiple placements because the foster parents throw up their hands.
Donna Lowry: I can see that with children who might have autism, with children in foster care who might have PTSD because of situations they've been in. So I'm glad you're addressing those issues. What kinds of legislation do you think the committee will possibly introduce during the General Assembly when it reconvenes in January?
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: We think that we can address the problems with enrollment in the schools. That is already required by law, but we need to put some teeth in that for the districts that are not complying with that. And, make sure those education credits for AP classes, for example, transfer in a timely way so that the kids don't lose those credits or have to repeat a grade. The other thing is that there's already a pilot in place about the autism screening in a rural part of Georgia, and we want to expand that to two more regions in rural Georgia.
We've got a lot of other things that probably don't require legislation, but they just are a matter of getting the right people in the room. Like the housing issue that I was talking about before, with the program that we could probably leverage in a much larger way, get the people together in the existing programs that we have within USG and the technical college system to be sure that statewide there's a plan to hands-on engage with the kids that are in the system that are in higher ed.
The other thing I didn't mention is that it's very hard for people aging out of foster care to navigate all the different resources, and we really need a one-stop shop to make that happen. And that can be on the DFACS website, but we just need a little more streamlining of the information so that it's much easier to find.
Donna Lowry: You’re drawing attention to an issue that people may not be aware of is a problem, but certainly needs our attention.
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: Yeah, and [November] the 22nd is National Adoption Day. Interesting bit of timing. But the other is the executive order about drawing attention to foster care issues and providing some resources that we haven't quite figured out yet what they are, but Melania Trump is apparently very interested in these challenges that foster children face. And it'll be great to try to figure out what that means and how Georgia can take full advantage of whatever programs they come up with.
Donna Lowry: Well, we'll certainly follow all of that that. I want to thank you so much, Sen. Kirkpatrick, for coming on Lawmakers Huddle.
Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick: It's always a pleasure talking with you. I'll look forward to seeing you during the session.
Donna Lowry: For Lawmakers Huddle, I'm Donna Lowry.
