(1)(a) The legislature finds that in Washington, there are more than seven thousand three hundred children in foster family or group care. These children face unique obstacles and burdens as they transition to adulthood, including lacking continuity in their elementary and high school educations. As compared to the general population of students, twice as many foster care youth change schools at least once during their elementary and secondary school careers, and three times as many change schools at least three times. Only thirty-four percent of foster care youth graduate from high school within four years, compared to seventy percent for the general population. Of the former foster care youth who earn a high school diploma, more than twenty-eight percent earn a GED instead of a traditional high school diploma. This is almost six times the rate of the general population. Research indicates that GED holders tend not to be as economically successful as the holders of traditional high school diplomas. Only twenty percent of former foster care youth who earn a high school degree enroll in college, compared to over sixty percent of the population generally. Of the former foster care youth who do enroll in college, very few go on to earn a degree. Less than two percent of former foster care youth hold bachelor's degrees, compared to twenty-eight percent of Washington's population generally.

     (b) Former foster care youth face two critical hurdles to enrolling in college. The first is a lack of information regarding preparation for higher education and their options for enrolling in higher education. The second is finding the financial resources to fund their education. As a result of the unique hurdles and challenges that face former foster care youth, a disproportionate number of them are part of society's large group of marginalized youth and are at increased risk of continuing the cycle of poverty and violence that frequently plagues their families.

     (c) Former foster care youth suffer from mental health problems at a rate greater than that of the general population. For example, one in four former foster care youth report having suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder within the previous twelve months, compared to only four percent of the general population. Similarly, the incidence of major depression among former foster care youth is twice that of the general population, twenty percent versus ten percent.

     (d) There are other barriers for former foster care youth to achieving successful adulthood. One-third of former foster care youth live in households that are at or below the poverty level. This is three times the rate for the general population. The percentage of former foster care youth who report being homeless within one year of leaving foster care varies from over ten percent to almost twenty-five percent. By comparison, only one percent of the general population reports having been homeless at sometime during the past year. One in three former foster care youth lack health insurance, compared to less than one in five people in the general population. One in six former foster care youth receive cash public assistance. This is five times the rate of the general population.

     (e) Approximately twenty-five percent of former foster care youth are incarcerated at sometime after leaving foster care. This is four times the rate of incarceration for the general population. Of the former foster care youth who "age out" of foster care, twenty-seven percent of the males and ten percent of the females are incarcerated within twelve to eighteen months of leaving foster care.

     (f) Female former foster care youth become sexually active more than seven months earlier than their nonfoster care counterparts, have more sexual partners, and have a mean age of first pregnancy of almost two years earlier than their peers who were not in foster care.

     (2) The legislature intends to create the passport to college promise pilot program. The pilot program will initially operate for a six-year period, and will have two primary components, as follows:

     (a) Significantly increasing outreach to foster care youth between the ages of fourteen and eighteen regarding the higher education opportunities available to them, how to apply to college, and how to apply for and obtain financial aid; and

     (b) Providing financial aid to former foster care youth to assist with the costs of their public undergraduate college education.

[2007 c 314 § 1.]