It's been two years since Florida's Legislature passed a law extending foster care from age 18 to 21, for youth aging out of the system who want to stay. But the law has had some unintended consequences. Children's advocates say extended foster care has been a success for young adults who need more time to complete school due to bureaucratic delays. But for those who also have disabilities have run into problems: specifically it's unclear which state agency pays for which services -- the Department of Children and Families or the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. “We’ve struggled with this for two years, and it shouldn’t be this way," said said Barbara Palmer, director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. "They shouldn’t have to choose whether they stay in foster care or whether they want to get services from us.” The idea behind the law was to give young adults more time to prepare for independence. But children's advocates say the state needs to come up with another
↧