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May 2014Vol. 15, No. 5Youth Health-Care Coverage Toolkit

Youth formerly in foster care are eligible for health-care coverage through Medicaid until age 26, regardless of income, due to a provision in the Affordable Care Act. The "Former Foster Care Youth and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Toolkit," developed by the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, presents an array of resources for service providers that describes the new health-care provision.

The resources include links to videos, PowerPoint presentations, factsheets, and webinars that explain the importance of obtaining health-care coverage, health insurance options for youth, and strategies for engaging youth in the enrollment process. One presentation also provides instructions for completing an enrollment.

Development of the toolkit was supported by Casey Family Programs, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and Atlantic Philanthropies. The toolkit is available on the Schuyler Center's website: 

http://www.scaany.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Former-Foster-Care-Youth-Toolkit-final.pdf (80 KB)

The Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, a statewide, nonprofit, policy analysis and advocacy organization located in Albany, NY, has long worked in the area of advocating for youth who are involved in the child welfare and mental health systems.

Related Item

In 2007, the Center published Disconnected Youth: An Answer to Preventing Disengagement, which reports on the efforts of two workgroups to formulate principles for preventing youth disconnectedness and provide recommendations to promote cross-system collaboration. Children's Bureau Express featured Disconnected Youth: An Answer to Preventing Disengagement in the article "Preventing Youth Disconnectedness" (July/August 2008):

https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=96&sectionid=2&articleid=2128