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Committee reviews bill to waive CCRI driver education fee for youth in foster or adopted homes
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Summary
Senate Bill S362 would exempt youth in foster care and adopted homes from the fee for Community College of Rhode Island driver education classes; witnesses said roughly 50–100 young people could benefit and the per-student cost is about $200. The committee held the bill for further study.
The Senate committee heard testimony on Senate Bill S362, which would amend licensing law to waive community college driver-education fees for young people in foster care or adopted homes.
Senator Apollonia, the bill sponsor, described the measure as removing a financial barrier to driving education for vulnerable youth. "The amendment will exempt individuals in foster or adopted homes from the fee associated with these driver's education classes, providing meaningful support for vulnerable populations," the sponsor said.
Darlene Allen, who identified herself as working with foster and adopted youth, told the committee the waiver would be "a very low cost but high impact piece of legislation" that could help young people secure jobs and education. Allen estimated CCRI would serve "50 to 100 kids at most" and said the driver-education fee is about $200 per young person.
Committee members asked how the waiver would be funded. Allen said the cost could be absorbed by CCRI's budget or could be addressed through the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) higher-education funds: "I would think that it would come out of the CCRI budget unless you would want to move an additional x amount of dollars to the DCYF higher education fund," she said.
Committee discussion noted data from DCYF showing roughly 92 youth in voluntary extension of care, and a CCRI letter estimating a larger fiscal impact. One senator observed CCRI’s estimate — which placed fiscal impact above $200,000 — did not align with the witness’s numbers, which would suggest a much lower cost.
After brief discussion, the committee voted to hold the bill for further study and requested clarification from CCRI and DCYF on likely beneficiary counts and fiscal implications.
Ending: The committee deferred action pending clearer enrollment and funding information from CCRI and DCYF; no final action was taken at the hearing.
