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The Office of the Foster Youth Ombudsperson handles complaints from anyone, prioritizing concerns from young people about their rights, care, safety, and placement in Minnesota foster care, including youth in Extended Foster Care and those who have recently aged out of care.
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Save the date for our Foster Care Advocacy and Awareness Celebration to honor OOFY's one-year anniversary and hear from Fosters and some of our state's leaders. More information to come.
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Legislative Updates
Thank you to those of you who submitted letters in support of our bill related to outreach for Fosters. We had a busy week and will continue to update on the progress of our bills. A summary of our legislative activities below.
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SF1547/HF2009: Direct outreach to Fosters where they live.
- Foster Bill of Rights: The bill is ready for introduction, but likely will not be ready for the second deadline. We will be continuing to work on this during this session and in the future!
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SF1025: A bill related to Supplemental Security Income benefits for Fosters.
- Video link for the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on 3/20
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SF1786: Relative foster care licensing, training, and background study requirements.
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SF2597: Fully funding the Fostering Independence Grants
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HF671: Children's mental health services.
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HF1276: Northstar Care for Children benefits.
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HF2136: Forensic interview training scholarships.
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 Fosters Vivian Dudley and Travis Matthews share their perspective on the importance of SF1547/HF2009, seated with Rep. Jess Hanson.
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 Ombudsperson Misty Coonce with Rep. Jess Hanson.
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It’s tax season! We know that tax filing can be confusing for many, and especially for Fosters ages 18-25 who may be filing for the first time. Many people have fears that they will have to pay in to the government if they file. However, research shoes that in in 2024, current and former foster youth ages 18-25 who filed received an average of:
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$1,370 cash back for single filers.
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$5,265 cash back for parenting filers!
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John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) is a California based organization that has lots of great information and resources on this topic: Taxes 101 Workshop Curriculum | JBAY.
- The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs offer free tax help for taxpayers who qualify: Get Free Tax Prep Help.
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In the past few months, many people have experienced significant uncertainty and worry about changes made by the federal government. We know that many Fosters depend on federal programs for support.
The following resources were compiled by the OOFY Advisory Board and may be helpful:
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DCYF is focusing on community engagement regarding access to personal belongings/items that may be included in files stored and maintained by the Department. Personal belongings may include things like photos, report cards, personal drawings, cards, etc. Although much of this work has focused on adoption files and adoption-related items, DCYF has shared with OOFY that they would like to have more input and participation from Fosters in this project as well.
There are a few ways to participate:
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Attend the next virtual engagement session, scheduled for April 16 from 12-1:30. These meetings will be held quarterly. Registration for the session will soon be available on the engagement website.
Thank you to our colleagues at DCYF for seeing the importance of engagement with Fosters on this very important project!
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