By Michael Fitzgerald, Photo: Lado2016/Adobe Stock, The Imprint, August 30, 2023
In a rare mention of foster youth during a White House briefing in May, a spokesperson for President Joe Biden made the case for easing the daily struggles of young adults aging out of the U.S. foster care system.
New federal rules will soon expand work requirements for food stamps for more unemployed adults. But “at the President’s insistence,” the White House official said, a deal had been struck with Republicans to create an exception to the rule for former foster youth aged 18 to 24, along with veterans and homeless people of all ages.
Beginning Friday, more adults between ages 50 and 54 will be required to work or volunteer in order to receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, for longer than three-months. But in a nation where many young adults raised in government custody face food insecurity each day, those restrictions will not apply to former foster youth. Their advocates described the easing of federal policy as a major achievement.
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