Serita Cox

  A new California workforce program that has offered transition-age foster youth paid service work as part of the state’s AmeriCorps program has already garnered national recognition. Last week, iFoster, the Truckee, California, nonprofit that helped develop the Transition-Age Youth (TAY) AmeriCorps program, was recognized with the “Best New AmeriCorps Program” award from the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps.

The congressional effort to provide tax incentives for hiring current and former foster youths has resurfaced, with bills that could be introduced in both chambers as early as today. The Improved Employment Outcomes for Foster Youth Act would provide tax credits of up to $2,400 to employers who hire current and former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 27.

Deitrick Foley has had 12 different phone numbers since he got his first phone at age 13. But throughout an adolescence spent in foster care, the one number Deitrick always keeps on speed dial is that of his twin brother, Devonte.

For young people who have survived often-turbulent stays in and out of the foster care system, trusting adults and systems can be hard. “After all, we’ve been through foster care and the crazy situations we’ve been in, if you’ve never been there, you’ll never be able to understand,” said Kamiah Manning, an 18-year-old foster youth from Los Angeles.

Velvet Trivino dreams of becoming a skin care specialist one day, to help others look pretty, to make them feel their best. But before she can care for someone else, she first had to look deep inside herself.

When Reid and Serita Cox started iFoster about seven years ago, they wanted to provide resources and support for the foster care community. That original vision and purpose is now being recognized by AARP’s Purpose Prize, an award given to “extraordinary individuals who use their life experience to make a better future for all,” according to AARP’s website.

Check back here tomorrow for Youth Services Insider‘s long list of youth-related federal legislation to keep an eye on this fiscal year. But we begin today with two pieces of legislation that, in Youth Services Insider‘s estimation, are no- brainers.

A bill aimed at incentivizing employers to hire current and former foster youth has been introduced in the House and Senate. The Improved Employment Outcomes For Foster Youth Act (H.R. 2060 and S.

A House bill introduced today would provide tax credits of up to $2,400 to employers who hire current and former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 27. The Improved Employment Outcomes for Foster Youth Act would for the first time include foster youth as an eligible category under the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which incentivizes the hiring of certain groups who struggle with barriers to employment.