Michigan foster care kids may qualify for extended benefits and a better chance at success, By Tim Martin, November 19, 2012, mlive.com: “Josie Brown had no place to call home after leaving the state’s foster care system at age 18. She couch-surfed from relative to relative and friend to friend, trying to figure out her future with no permanent place to live or prospects for finding one – and no reliable support system. While inquiring about a possible move to a homeless shelter in Lansing, Brown found out about a new program allowing young adults who have aged out of foster care to continue receiving certain types of support until they turn 21 years old. Now Brown has an apartment of her own because of the program financed primarily through federal sources. She gets support from a caseworker. She’s continuing to take classes at Lansing Community College, with a goal of possibly becoming a nurse someday. And fresh off her 20th birthday, she’s lining up interviews for part-time jobs…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty