Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Foster Scholarship topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Advocates Testify for Foster-to-College Scholarship at House Committee Hearing
Summary
Interested‑party witnesses told the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee that substitute House Bill 25 would give foster youth a clearer pathway to higher education; witnesses praised recent amendments, urged full funding, and noted coordination gaps with schools and higher education.
Chair Young convened the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee and opened third‑hearing interested‑party testimony on House Bill 25, the Foster to College Scholarship Act. Julia Marino, advocacy team leader for the Junior League of Columbus, and other interested parties urged the committee to press forward.
"My name is Julia Marino, and I am the advocacy team leader for the Junior League of Columbus," Marino told the committee, praising the substitute bill as the product of work by sponsors, the Legislative Service Commission and agency stakeholders. She said the measure has been debated across three legislative sessions and described the bill as shaped by foster youth and advocates who have repeatedly provided testimony.
Marino asked members to meet foster youth who will be reaching out and emphasized the human stakes: "Our 16,000 foster youth in Ohio have names too," she said, urging legislators not to be indifferent and to support the bill as a way to offer long‑term opportunity.
Kim Eckert, speaking as a member of Maple Grove, framed support as a moral issue rooted in faith and commended committee amendments intended to strengthen program sustainability. Eckert noted that the substitute adds an upper age limit for eligibility, saying that prioritizing younger students could ensure appropriations are sufficient to serve those the committee designates as eligible.
Eckert also described a family history of foster care success and argued the scholarship would reduce the daily survival decisions facing foster alumni: "This program will provide the vital tuition and room‑and‑board support so that foster care alumni can pursue this education without the constant fear of homelessness and hunger," she said. She added a statistic about outcomes for foster students: "Only 60 percent of our students in foster care graduate right now," a figure she presented to underscore the need for intervention.
Committee members thanked witnesses and discussed remaining technical questions, including how scholarship transfers and student support would be coordinated with K‑12 schools and institutions of higher education. Chair Young said staff had identified gaps over the summer and that the committee was working to resolve outstanding parameters.
Chair Young closed the interested‑party portion of testimony and noted written testimony filed by Sarah LaTourette of the Ohio Children’s Alliance. The committee took no vote at the hearing; HB25 remains under committee consideration with further work on coordination and funding details anticipated.
