Foster care youth share agenda at ‘AMP Day on the Hill’
Foster care youth held the annual AMP Day on the Hill on Jan. 30, 2024, at the Iowa State Capitol Rotunda. YSS President and CEO Andrew Allen made opening remarks. Other speakers included Kelly Garcia, the Director of the Iowa Department of Health Human Services, as well as YSS employees and youth advocates.
AMP (Achieving Maximum Potential) is a statewide foster care youth council led by YSS and funded by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. The organization seeks to unleash the full potential for personal growth among foster, adoptive, and kinship children in Iowa. A program of YSS, AMP offers leadership opportunities, service learning projects, educational assistance, and life skills training to help youth become self-sufficient, independent adults.
With the motto “Nothing about us, without us,” AMP empowers Iowa’s youth to advocate for themselves and make foster care more responsive and effective.
“AMP is all about connection. AMP exists to be a safe place for youth to connect with one another, connect with their communities, and connect with opportunities to advocate for positive changes to Iowa’s Child Welfare System,” said Samanthya Marlatt, YSS Director of Youth Empowerment & Advocacy.
Each year, AMP youth form their official legislative agenda, which they share with Iowa’s legislators and the public. For 13 years, AMP Day on the Hill has been successful in making change for Iowa’s youth, passing laws that include implementing the Guardian Assistance Program to increase permanency for foster youth; strengthening Iowa code to keep siblings together when out-of-home placements are necessary; and allowing foster youth to remain in care until age 21.
2024 AMP Legislative Agenda:
Prioritize Normalcy for Kinship and Group Placements
Kinship caregivers should receive the same financial stipend as foster parents and should receive funding equal to or exceeding 65% of the USDA cost to raise a child.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is moving in the right direction with new Kinship Caregiver Payments. Even still, kinship caregivers get less because they are not licensed to be foster parents. AMP believes it is impractical and unnecessary to get fully licensed to temporarily care for a family member. Support for kinship placements protects a child’s right to normalcy by removing financial barriers and increases their odds of higher success rates when it comes to things like securing housing, employment, and higher education (Kinship Statistics)
Promote Financial Stability for Youth Aging out of Foster Care
The monthly PAL stipend Aftercare youth receive should be increased to $900 and the age of eligibility be extended for two more years, through the age of 22. Also, vendor payments should be increased to $2,000 and the age of eligibility be extended three more years, through age 25.
Youth who have aged out of foster care and are served by the Iowa Aftercare Services Program receive a monthly financial stipend for housing, transportation, and groceries to help promote positive outcomes. The up to $600 amount has remained essentially unchanged since 2006 despite the cost of living dramatically increasing. Likewise, vendor payments to youth, used for food and shelter. Aftercare is a statewide program already funded by the Iowa Legislature. To continue to be effective, the program needs to keep up with the increasing costs of housing, food, and other essential needs.
Introducing the new Foster Youth Bill of Rights
Iowa should build on efforts to identify and inform youth in foster care about their rights. AMP is working on updating the Foster Youth Bill of Rights and will be requesting that it be Codified to show the legislative support for youth in foster care.
AMP is anticipating ideas and suggestions about youth rights from the NYTD Talking Wall activity, where youth are engaged at AMP councils, shelters, detention centers, and group homes across the state to get their input. Talking Wall should be completed in January and youth’s ideas will be shared in the spring of 2024.
