There s $10.5 million sitting at the state Department of Child Safety to provide cash assistance to older and former foster youth as they cope with pandemic-induced stresses.
But only a fraction of it has reached the young people it s intended for, slowed by what foster advocates call an overly cumbersome process.
To speed things up, they have been pressing for $500 direct payments to foster youth who meet the requirements of the federal pandemic relief act Congress passed in late December. There should be a direct stimulus payment from this money for the people who qualify, said Rebecca Masterson, general counsel for the nonprofit Gen Justice and the mother of a youth adopted out of foster care.