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Foster youth advocates tell House panel lack of consistent food assistance is harming stability, schooling and health
Summary
Michigan's Children, Park West Foundation and foster youth advocates urged the House subcommittee to simplify and centralize food benefits for foster children and youth, proposing individual Bridge Cards, a $250 emergency allotment on placement and exemptions from SNAP work requirements for vulnerable youth.
Representatives from Michigan’s Children and Park West Foundation testified to the House Oversight Subcommittee on Child Welfare System that foster youth in Michigan face repeated and prolonged interruptions in food assistance when they move between placements.
Dr. Heather Baumstau, vice president of programs and policy at Michigan’s Children, introduced youth advocates from Park West Foundation and FYTech, who described gaps between the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Services Administration (CSA) and the Economic Stability Administration (ESA) that leave many youth without access to nutrition support.
“Young people who grow up in foster care have reported anxiety about not knowing how and when and what to eat in different people’s homes,” Saba Gabri of Park West Foundation told the committee. Several youth witnesses described repeated denials, confusing eligibility rules and application delays that in…
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