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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

State House to Vote on Bill to Extend Foster Care

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011   

LANSING, Mich. - Most young adults in Michigan who turn 18 still have a support system to fall back on, even if they are away at college or living on their own. But for those in foster care, 18 is when they "age out" of the system and no longer qualify for supportive services.

That could change under a package of bills before a legislative committee today which would extend foster-care services to age 21.

Jennifer Stevens, a foster-care supervisor with Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, says 18 is simply too young for these people to be on their own, given the circumstances many of them already have had to overcome.

"They were placed here because they were already living lives that were not safe for them. They were already at risk in the lives that they were living, not because of themselves but because of the people that were supposed to be taking care of them."

Opponents of the bills say the state cannot afford to extend foster-care services, but Stevens argues the cost of not doing so is far greater. When these youths don't get the support they need, she says, there is too much of a risk they will return to the life they knew before, which often leads to costly trouble down the road.

"If it leads to incarceration, if it leads to medical issues, if they don't have a job and don't get benefits and whatnot, we're still paying for them. So I think in the long run it is better to give them the services on the front end so that they can lead successful lives."

If the bills are passed, Michigan likely would qualify for federal matching funds. Similar legislation is moving forward in several other states, including Washington and Florida.


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