Gabrielle Russon
Tierra Lamore, who was in foster care from age 6 to 15, suddenly found herself homeless on her 18th birthday. The high school senior started couch surfing and worrying about where she would stay next.
Her story is a success story, not a tragedy. She ended up studying social work at Florida State University and graduated with honors.
On Monday, she testified in support of a new bill to help young people in similar circumstances get a place guaranteed to stay on college campuses.
HB 879, which cleared its first committee stop, would make young adults who were either homeless or went through the foster care system a top priority at residence halls on college campuses.
The bill is meant for those 28 years and younger and would also require Florida’s two-year public state colleges and universities to develop a priority system for assigning students to housing or work study programs. Students who aged out of foster care — who already get free tuition — would be placed as a top priority on the list.
The House Careers & Workforce Subcommittee passed the bill Monday with a 16-0 vote.
“You have great believers in you, and you’re not alone. So thank you for fighting for our most vulnerable here in the state of Florida. Godspeed,” Chair Berny Jacques, a Seminole Republican, told the bill’s sponsors and the youth advocates after the vote.
During the debate, Republican Rep. Michael Caruso asked if the young people who get free or discounted housing would be required to have minimal grade requirements at school.
“Those kids have been bounced from one home to another, and they are in college now, so we are doing everything in our power to keep them in school,” said Rep. Marie Woodson, a Hollywood Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill. “Just because one scored an ‘A,’ or one scored a ‘B’ doesn’t mean that we are not going to give them the housing that they need.”
Caruso followed up and asked what happens if students went as far as to fail their classes.
Rep. Alex Rizo, a Hialeah Republican and bill’s other co-sponsor, jumped in and said he believes students would need to be in good standing with the school to get the housing assistance
The bill won bipartisan support.
“You’re evening the odds,” said Republican Rep. Doug Bankson. “I’m proud to vote up on this bill.”
The bill is bound next for the Higher Education Budget Subcommittee or Education and Employment Committee.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Lamore, who is lobbying for the bill on behalf of the foster care advocacy group Florida Youth SHINE, told lawmakers what’s next for her. She is interning with the Department of Children and Families now.
“I’m also trying to figure out what my next goal is, but for now, I think it’s just to be proud of myself,” she said.
