EDUCATION LAW WILL AID
ADOPTED FOSTER TEENS, CHILD WELFARE WORKERS

From the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute E-Newsletter
September 2007

"President Bush signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act into law (Public Law 110-84) on September 27, 2007

The new law will help adopted foster care youth receive college financial aid and will provide loan forgiveness to child welfare workers. The law includes the "Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act" amendment, which changes the federal definition of "independent student" to include foster care youth adopted after age 13; students' financial aid eligibility will be based solely on their ability to pay, regardless of adoptive parents' income. Currently, youths who "age out" of the system can qualify for virtually all loans and grants, but since family income is included in determining eligibility for those who have been adopted, adopted teens have not qualified to receive the same loans and grants in the past.

In addition, the new law will forgive loans for public or private child welfare workers who receive a degree is social work or a related field . To read the new law, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov and click on the link "Public Laws" and view the public law ranging from 110-51 to 110-86." See the Voice for Adoption Factsheet, Expanded Access to College Financial Aid for Former Foster Youth (pdf) for further information on when the law goes into effect.

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NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
410 East Upland Road • Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 272-0034 • fax (607) 272-0035
office@nysccc.org
03/20/2008