"Myriad studies have shown that the period immediately after “emancipation” at age 18 is the most precarious for a foster youth..."For years, thousands of California youths were abused or neglected twice over — first by parents who couldn’t or wouldn’t provide basic care, then by governmental agencies that cut them off from all support on their 18th birthdays...
"Any pressure to divert savings to help with the state’s budget woes instead of reinvesting in foster care. That would be a costly mistake.
"The human and the dollar cost of not investing in grown-up foster children has already been shown to be very, very high.
"It is time for us, as a state, to act as if these kids who have been put in our care genuinely matter to us.
"Actually, it’s way past time."
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