HB2349 Summary

• Extends the application deadline for former foster youth to apply for higher education financial assistance from age 22 to age 26

• Changes terminology from "board allowances" to "stipends" and clarifies that financial assistance covers all higher education-related costs, not just room and board

• Expands eligible recipients of stipend payments to include former resource caregivers, adoptive parents, and legal custodians in addition to the youth and intermediaries

• Clarifies eligibility criteria for the Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care Program to include youth under voluntary foster custody and court-ordered temporary foster custody at age 18

• Specifies that guardians and adoptive parents must be "no longer willing to provide emotional and financial support" for youth adopted or placed in guardianship after age 16 to qualify for the program

• Repeals the annual reporting requirement for the Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care Program to the legislature