On Feb. 28, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) introduced the Foster Care Mentoring Act of 2011 (S.420). Senator Landrieu is also the co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth. Senator Landrieu has introduced this bill in previous congressional sessions. S. 420 is identical to S. 986, which was introduced in the last Congress to support mentoring programs for foster youth.  The bill was read twice and passed on to the Committee on Finance, where it has not been heard, nor does it appear on the Web site.
 
The bill would amend Part 2 of the Title IV-B Promoting Safe and Stable Families program by including a $15 million grant program for FYs 2012-2013 for states and eligible political subdivisions to apply for no more than $600,000 to expand or establish foster care mentoring programs. The bill also includes a set aside amount of $4 million to fund a national coordination of statewide mentoring partnerships initiative, which would establish a national hotline service or Web site to provide information to individuals who are interested in becoming mentors to foster youth. Mentors are also eligible for $2,000 in student loan forgiveness for every 200 hours served in a calendar year, which shall not exceed $10,000 per mentor.

About Kay Casey

Kay Casey has over 20 years of experience in federal and state child welfare policy and programs, having worked for the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Florida Department of Children and Families prior to joining PCG. She is responsible for the review and assessment of fiscal processing systems that impact a state’s ability to identify, document, and report expenditures for federal reporting purposes accompanied with the programmatic impact on the state’s system of care.

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