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DCF urges lawmakers to waive DMV ID and license fees for youth with foster care history
Summary
A Department for Children and Families official told the House Transportation Committee that waiving DMV fees for current and former foster youth would be low-cost but administratively helpful; DCF and DMV are working on options if statutory change is not adopted.
Amanda Churchill Kipp, a policy and practice specialist in the adolescent services unit at the Vermont Department for Children and Families, told the House Transportation Committee on April 29 that DCF supports a statutory waiver of DMV fees for youth who are or were in foster care.
The change would remove fees for non‑driver IDs, permits and driver's licenses for an eligible cohort DCF estimates at about 150 youth a year and would cost the state roughly $8,000 to $15,000 annually, Churchill Kipp said. She added that DCF's Youth Development Program already spent about $7,300 in the past 12 months to help 120 youth obtain non‑driver IDs, permits and licenses.
Churchill Kipp said the Youth Development Program, or YDP, provides case management and flexible funding to help foster youth obtain identification and driving credentials, and that federal law and state policy require DCF to assist youth in custody in obtaining identity documents. "For the record, my name is Amanda Churchill Kipp. I'm a policy and practice specialist in the adolescent services unit at DCF Family Services," she said. She described ID and license access as critical to taking steps toward employment, education, housing and independent living.
DCF told the committee there are currently 208 youth ages 15 and up in foster care in Vermont; those youth have been in DCF custody an average of 27 months. Churchill Kipp said YDP serves youth ages 14 to 22 and that the draft bill language being discussed would extend eligibility through age 22 (under age 23). DCF estimated a maximum eligible pool of about 600 youth if historical counts were used, but said many in that pool already have credentials, live out of state, or will not need the benefit.
Committee members asked how the waiver would work in practice. Churchill Kipp said the DMV is redesigning its point‑of‑sale system and that implementation would likely require a memorandum of understanding and a data‑sharing agreement so the DMV could flag eligible applicants. She also said DCF can provide affidavits verifying a youth's custody status when needed and that, if statutory waiver is not adopted, DCF will continue to pursue an MOU with the DMV that could include batch billing or deferred costs.
Churchill Kipp outlined DCF's administrative burden in paying small fees: staff or contractors must request and obtain approval for funds, pay the DMV by agency check or credit card, submit invoices and then seek reimbursement — a process she described as eight separate steps that are time‑consuming for small amounts typically ranging from $24 to $62 per transaction. Removing the fee for eligible youth, she said, would reduce that administrative work and free case managers to provide more direct support.
Churchill Kipp said only 37 percent of YDP youth over age 16 currently have a driver's license and that a waiver could improve employment and education outcomes in rural Vermont. She told the committee the state's Youth in Transition law (2007) provides transition funds for this population and that DCF has supported this work through policy and contract arrangements for years.
No formal vote or motion was taken during the testimony. Committee members asked follow‑up questions and indicated they would continue review with DMV staff.
DCF provided cost breakdowns reported to the committee for the past 12 months: about $530 for non‑driver IDs, $35.50 for permits and $3,250 for licenses, with no significant demand to date for motorcycle credentials. Churchill Kipp also noted the long‑standing administrative history: the legislature passed the Youth in Transition law in February 2007 to provide incidental funds for transition needs.
Committee members asked for additional details about logistics and data collection. Churchill Kipp said DCF is working to improve data systems and that some national research links having a driver's license to better employment outcomes, though DCF's own systems make it difficult to draw direct causal measures at present.
The committee did not make a decision on statutory language during this session; DCF said it would continue to work with the DMV on operational options and provide further information if the committee requests it.
