Committee reviews bill to waive DMV fees for youth who were in DCF custody

A legislative committee discussed S.123, the miscellaneous motor vehicle bill, which would waive certain Department of Motor Vehicles fees for people who were in the care and custody of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) after reaching age 14 and who are under 23.

Supporters said the waiver would shift small direct costs from DCF to DMV and reduce the administrative burden of DCF and its contractors that currently reimburse youth for driver's licenses, permits and replacement IDs.

Danny Leonard of Legislative Council said the bill makes targeted changes to Title 23, the state's motor vehicle law, and adds language to existing fee-waiver provisions to cover individuals under 23 who were in DCF custody after age 14. He described the change as removing some of the back-and-forth transactions between agencies and contractors.

Amanda Churchill Kipp, a policy and practice specialist in the adolescent services unit at DCF Family Services, said DCF and its contractor, the Youth Development Program (YDP), already pay fees for many youth and that a statutory waiver would simplify administration. "We estimate that this would support, approximately 150 or less youth annually and costs between 8,000 and $15,000 per year," she said. Kipp said YDP provided about $7,300 over the past 12 months to support 120 youth in obtaining non-driver IDs, permits, licenses and replacements.

The bill text, as discussed, would waive fees for standard non-driver IDs (a $29 fee in current practice), learner's permits ($24), the written examination ($11), motorcycle learner permits ($24) and the additional $4 per year motorcycle endorsement fee for eligible youth. The waiver would apply to operator licenses and privilege cards; privilege cards do not meet federal REAL ID requirements.

Kipp said there are currently 208 youth over age 15 in foster care in Vermont, with an average length of custody of about 27 months. DCF estimates an eligible pool of roughly 600 youth who at some point meet the after-14 criterion, but that fewer than 150 would likely seek fee waivers in a given year. DCF described the primary problem as the administrative burden of contracting and reimbursement: subcontractors spend and seek reimbursement, the contractor then requests reimbursement from DCF, and staff must track paperwork for many small transactions.

Matt Russo, deputy commissioner for the DMV, said the agency expects the change to be "an easy programmatic change" and that the DMV's system can be updated to process exempt transactions. He and agency staff said a practical verification approach would be a signed form or a data-sharing arrangement from DCF that identifies eligible youth so DMV staff can apply the waiver at the point of service.

Officials emphasized that some level of casework and documentation will remain necessary. Kipp noted that for youth under 18 a guardian or the commissioner's designee must still sign forms, and both agencies said staff or contractors will likely continue to assist youth in gathering identification documents and evidence of eligibility.

No formal vote or motion was taken at the meeting; the discussion focused on the language in S.123 and on interagency steps needed to implement the waiver if enacted. Committee members were told the language will be carried in the miscellaneous DMV bill and could reach the full floor soon.

Implementation details raised by staff include creating an interagency memorandum of understanding or a signed verification form from DCF, programming a fee-exempt flag into DMV's system, and continuing contractor support to help youth collect required identity documentation.