House Bill 302
Over the past couple of months members of the youth advisory board have been working on passing a bill into law called HB 302. HB 302 is the foster care bill of rights. It was to be voted for or against on April 16, 2007. It outlines rights that foster youth mostly already have, but aren't being protected or honored the way they should be. Rights such as sibling visits, home stability, practicing the religion of your choice, money, social interactions, employment, and the requirement of a discharge plan. All of these rights are to be honored without any discrimination of the basis of anything such as race, gender, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national orgin, etc. Members of the youth advisory board have been calling Representatives from the House who were on the fence about certain issues with the bill, to try and sway them into voting for the bill without any ammendments. They've been calling, making in person appointments to talk about the bill, and writing letters as well to tell their stories and why the bill is important to them. Then, on April 16th, the youth went up to Harrisburg to the capital building for one final shot to try to get more votes over. They went from office to office talking the representatives about their stories and why the bill was so important to them. Many of the representatives were very responsive, some were unavailable. This was a great way for youth to advocate for themselves and for other youth who could not participate. The actual vote due to inclement weather was pushed to April 17th. Talking to the youth who participated, it is probably agreed that most felt empowered and great about what they were doing.