Giving foster children their owed disability and survivor benefits could help them avoid societal pitfalls
Social Mobility
A core promise of America is the ability of people to rise up from humble beginnings. The challenges faced by lower- and middle-income Americans today are multidisciplinary in nature, and require our renewed focus. Job and wage growth are essential; in particular, Americans need access to more blue-collar work and other jobs that don’t require a college degree. Our employment and welfare policies should encourage work, family formation, and income security. Paid family leave can help strengthen families at their times of need.
All Social Mobility
Major welfare programs aren’t designed to work together. As a result, we help fewer than we could, and waste more than we should.
Cost of living is one of many neglected challenges facing lower-income Americans.
Young people who age out of foster care too often struggle and succumb to poor life outcomes
As the Governor learns more about foster care in Virginia, he will discover that the Commonwealth is not merely neglecting foster children: it is actively stealing from them
Advocates hope the change will spur other child welfare agencies across the country to follow suit
An underrated barrier to equal opportunity is America’s 21st-century expectation that children should be constantly supervised
The program could become a model for other states as lawmakers look to help at-risk youth make the challenging transition to adulthood