Earlier this summer, Brianna Nunnally was walking on a financial tightrope.
The 23-year-old had aged out of Georgia’s foster care system, and found herself a half-step away from homelessness. Her bank account was in the red, forcing her to drop out of nursing school, and pushing her to the brink of eviction.
Then, through a simple Google search, she stumbled across a new state program: aid for Georgia’s former foster care youth who are pursuing a post-secondary education.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, is this real?’” she said.
Nunnally is part of a small but steadily growing cohort of former foster care kids who are reaping the benefits of a new donation tax credit program that took effect this year. But as 2023 comes to a close, foster care advocates are concerned that not enough taxpayers are taking advantage of the credit. The program has only received a fraction of the $20 million in tax credit donations that are meant to benefit former foster care youth who are pursuing an education after high school. The program as of early December had been approved for $3.9 million this year, according to state officials. The program resets on Jan. 1, which means roughly $16 million in current year tax credits could be left on the table.
“We are really down to the wire,” said Heidi Carr, executive director for Fostering Success Act, Inc., an organization set up to help those applying for the tax credit program.
Each year, some 700 young people in Georgia’s foster care system turn 18 and age out of the system, which thrusts these at-risk teens into the complications and uncertainty of adult life without traditional supports. For many, the transition can be abrupt and rocky — or worse. Former foster youth are more likely to face much higher rates of homelessness and chronic poverty than their peers, according to Carr.
Education is one of the paths to break the cycle, but the lack of a familial safety net can make navigating a post-secondary education a daunting challenge. Carr said she spoke with one young man who exited from foster care at age 18: after returning from school, his foster parents handed him a MARTA card and all of his belongings, which were stuffed in trash bags.
“He was told, ‘you’re on your own,” Carr said. “There’s really no direction.”
In 2022, the Georgia Legislature stepped in to help. Lawmakers unanimously passed a bill that was seen as a win-win for state businesses and taxpayers as well as those aging out of the foster care system. It created a donation credit program for former foster care youth who are working towards a post-high school degree. The program funds everyday costs, such as housing, transportation and food. The youth must be Georgia residents who are pursuing some kind of post-secondary education in Georgia, and are under the age of 26.
Taxpayers, either as individuals or businesses, can apply for a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations made to a list of 20 state-approved non-profit organizations that are supporting these youth.
Carr said her organization is reaching out to many business owners, who have larger tax liability and could fund higher amounts. Right now, there are no contribution limits, she said.
Many government aid programs exist to pay the tuition for former foster youth, said Bob Bruder-Mattson, president and CEO of FaithBridge Foster Care, one of the organizations distributing these donated funds to former foster youth. The issue these young adults are facing, he said, is having enough funds for everyday living and school expenses. Often a few hundred dollars can mean the difference between staying in school or leaving because a former foster kid can’t afford their bills, he said.
One young person he’s met through this work was a former student at Kennesaw State University. That young man was in a math class and needed a Texas Instruments calculator, which can run north of $100. The student couldn’t afford the calculator and so he dropped out of the class, triggering a domino effect that ultimately led him to drop out of school.
Through the foster care tax credit program, that young man is enrolled back in college, now at Chattahoochee Technical College. They’ve helped him pay for clothes, food, housing, and even a calculator.
“It’s pretty hard to concentrate on your education, or bettering yourself when you’re not sure where your next meal is from or where you’re going to sleep,” Bruder-Mattson said. “We can make sure that’s not a barrier.”
So far, FaithBridge Foster care has helped 45 young adults pursue a post-secondary education, and is in the process of evaluating dozens more. Every week, a handful of young adults are reaching out to them, Bruder-Mattson said. And that’s with virtually no marketing of the program.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Life is better now for Nunnally, the former foster youth who enrolled back in school. The program helped pay for things as simple gas money so she could drive to her part-time job at an Amazon warehouse. She’s planning to start classes at Ogeechee Technical College next year, and is considering a degree in health care administration.
That initial outreach for help, she said, was overwhelming. But she’s glad she did it.
“I was going through my real life,” she said of that moment. “I’m going to cry thinking about it.”
Georgia taxpayers can apply for the tax credit online at fosteringsuccessact.org, or through the state’s Department of Revenue on georgia.gov.
