Senate committee backs extending foster‑care eligibility to age 23 and eases kinship licensing rules

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 245 to the Senate floor with a due‑pass recommendation after a lengthy hearing that included department officials, former foster youth and nonprofit advocates.

Senator Carl Bjerke, sponsor of the bill, said the measure would extend voluntary foster‑care services from age 21 to 23 and make it easier for relatives to receive expedited licensure or a limited variance to take a related child into foster care. "We're thinking about the return on investment ... research shows that extended foster care reduces food insecurity by 21%, homelessness by 19%, and arrest by 28%," Bjerke said, arguing that keeping young people in foster care longer can reduce later public costs.

Monty Prow, deputy director at the Department of Health and Welfare, described the practical services available under extended foster care. "If they voluntarily agree to be part of extended foster care, they have to be part of an independent living or transition plan," Prow…