"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) The majority of foster youth fail to thrive in our educational system and, relative to nonfoster youth, disproportionately few enroll in college or other postsecondary training programs. As a result, former foster youth generally have poor employment and life satisfaction outcomes;
     (b) Low expectations, lack of information, fragmented support services, and financial hardship are the most frequently cited reasons for failure of foster youth to pursue postsecondary education or training. Initiatives have been undertaken at both the state and community levels in Washington to improve outcomes for foster youth in transition to independence; however, these initiatives are often not coordinated to complement one another;
     (c) Even after they reach the age of eighteen, nonfoster youth often receive financial support from their families to pursue postsecondary education or training. Although the state is the legal guardian for those foster youth who have not been reunited with their families, adopted, or placed into guardianship, after these youth reach the age of eighteen, the state does not consistently provide financial support so that they may pursue postsecondary education or training.
     (2) The legislature intends to encourage and support foster youth to pursue postsecondary education or training opportunities. A coordination committee that provides statewide planning and oversight of related efforts will improve the effectiveness of both current and future initiatives to improve postsecondary educational outcomes for foster youth. In addition, the state can provide financial support to former foster youth pursuing higher education or training by setting aside portions of the state need grant and the state work study programs specifically for foster youth.

Sec. 2   RCW 74.13.570 and 2003 c 112 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall establish an oversight committee composed of staff from the children's administration of the department, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the higher education coordinating board, foster youth, former foster youth, foster parents, and advocacy agencies to develop strategies for maintaining foster children in the schools they were attending at the time they entered foster care and to promote opportunities for foster youth to participate in postsecondary education or training.
     (2) The duties of the oversight committee shall include, but are not limited to:
     (a) Developing strategies for school-based recruitment of foster homes;
     (b) Monitoring the progress of current pilot projects that assist foster children to continue attending the schools they were attending at the time they entered foster care;
     (c) Overseeing the expansion of the number of pilot projects;
     (d) Promoting the use of best practices, throughout the state, demonstrated by the pilot projects and other programs relating to maintaining foster children in the schools they were attending at the time they entered foster care; ((and))
     (e) Informing the legislature of the status of efforts to maintain foster children in the schools they were attending at the time they entered foster care;
     (f) Assessing the scope and nature of statewide need among current and former foster youth for assistance to pursue and participate in postsecondary education or training opportunities;
     (g) Identifying available sources of funding available in the state for services to former foster youth to pursue and participate in postsecondary education or training opportunities;
     (h) Reviewing the effectiveness of activities in the state to support former foster youth to pursue and participate in postsecondary education or training opportunities;
     (i) Identifying new activities, or existing activities that should be modified or expanded, to best meet statewide needs; and
     (j) Reviewing on an ongoing basis the progress toward improving educational and vocational outcomes for foster youth.

Sec. 3   RCW 28B.92.060 and 2004 c 275 s 37 are each amended to read as follows:
     In awarding need grants, the board shall proceed substantially as follows: PROVIDED, That nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent the board, in the exercise of its sound discretion, from following another procedure when the best interest of the program so dictates:
     (1) The board shall annually select the financial aid award recipients from among Washington residents applying for student financial aid who have been ranked according to:
     (a) Financial need as determined by the amount of the family contribution; and
     (b) Other considerations ((brought to the board's attention)), such as whether the student is a former foster youth.
     (2) The financial need of the highest ranked students shall be met by grants depending upon the evaluation of financial need until the total allocation has been disbursed. Funds from grants which are declined, forfeited or otherwise unused shall be reawarded until ((dispersed)) disbursed, except that eligible former foster youth shall be assured receipt of a grant.
     (3) A student shall be eligible to receive a state need grant for up to five years, or the credit or clock hour equivalent of five years, or up to one hundred twenty-five percent of the published length of time of the student's program. A student may not start a new associate degree program as a state need grant recipient until at least five years have elapsed since earning an associate degree as a need grant recipient, except that a student may earn two associate degrees concurrently. Qualifications for renewal will include maintaining satisfactory academic progress toward completion of an eligible program as determined by the board. Should the recipient terminate his or her enrollment for any reason during the academic year, the unused portion of the grant shall be returned to the state educational grant fund by the institution according to the institution's own policy for issuing refunds, except as provided in RCW 28B.92.070.
     (4) In computing financial need, the board shall determine a maximum student expense budget allowance, not to exceed an amount equal to the total maximum student expense budget at the public institutions plus the current average state appropriation per student for operating expense in the public institutions.

Sec. 4   RCW 28B.92.030 and 2004 c 275 s 35 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Institution or institutions of higher education" means:
     (a) Any public university, college, community college, or technical college operated by the state of Washington or any political subdivision thereof; or
     (b) Any other university, college, school, or institute in the state of Washington offering instruction beyond the high school level which is a member institution of an accrediting association recognized by rule of the board for the purposes of this section: PROVIDED, That any institution, branch, extension or facility operating within the state of Washington which is affiliated with an institution operating in another state must be a separately accredited member institution of any such accrediting association, or a branch of a member institution of an accrediting association recognized by rule of the board for purposes of this section, that is eligible for federal student financial aid assistance and has operated as a nonprofit college or university delivering on-site classroom instruction for a minimum of twenty consecutive years within the state of Washington, and has an annual enrollment of at least seven hundred full-time equivalent students: PROVIDED FURTHER, That no institution of higher education shall be eligible to participate in a student financial aid program unless it agrees to and complies with program rules and regulations adopted pursuant to RCW 28B.92.150.
     (2) "Financial aid" means loans and/or grants to needy students enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a student at institutions of higher education.
     (3) "Needy student" means a post high school student of an institution of higher education who demonstrates to the board the financial inability, either through the student's parents, family and/or personally, to meet the total cost of board, room, books, and tuition and incidental fees for any semester or quarter.
     (4) "Disadvantaged student" means a post high school student who by reason of adverse cultural, educational, environmental, experiential, familial or other circumstances is unable to qualify for enrollment as a full time student in an institution of higher education, who would otherwise qualify as a needy student, and who is attending an institution of higher education under an established program designed to qualify the student for enrollment as a full time student.
     (5) "Board" means the higher education coordinating board.
     (6) "Former foster youth" means a person who:
     (a) Is between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three;
     (b) Has been in foster care in the state of Washington for a minimum of six months since his or her fourteenth birthday; and
     (c) Has enrolled or will enroll in an institution of higher education in Washington state within three years of high school graduation or having successfully completed his or her GED.

Sec. 5   RCW 28B.12.060 and 2002 c 354 s 224 are each amended to read as follows:
     The higher education coordinating board shall adopt rules as may be necessary or appropriate for effecting the provisions of this chapter, and not in conflict with this chapter, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 34.05 RCW, the state higher education administrative procedure act. Such rules shall include provisions designed to make employment under the work-study program reasonably available, to the extent of available funds, to all eligible students in eligible postsecondary institutions in need thereof. The rules shall include:
     (1) Providing work under the state work-study program that will not result in the displacement of employed workers or impair existing contracts for services;
     (2) Furnishing work only to a student who:
     (a) Is capable, in the opinion of the eligible institution, of maintaining good standing in such course of study while employed under the program covered by the agreement; and
     (b) Has been accepted for enrollment as at least a half-time student at the eligible institution or, in the case of a student already enrolled in and attending the eligible institution, is in good standing and in at least half-time attendance there either as an undergraduate, graduate or professional student; and
     (c) Is not pursuing a degree in theology;
     (3) Placing priority on providing:
     (a) Work opportunities for students who are residents of the state of Washington as defined in RCW 28B.15.012 and 28B.15.013, particularly former foster youth as defined in RCW 28B.92.030, except resident students defined in RCW 28B.15.012(2)(((f))) (g);
     (b) Job placements in fields related to each student's academic or vocational pursuits, with an emphasis on off-campus job placements whenever appropriate; and
     (c) Off-campus community service placements;
     (4) Provisions to assure that in the state institutions of higher education, utilization of this work-study program:
     (a) Shall only supplement and not supplant classified positions under jurisdiction of chapter 41.06 RCW;
     (b) That all positions established which are comparable shall be identified to a job classification under the director of personnel's classification plan and shall receive equal compensation;
     (c) Shall not take place in any manner that would replace classified positions reduced due to lack of funds or work; and
     (d) That work study positions shall only be established at entry level positions of the classified service unless the overall scope and responsibilities of the position indicate a higher level; and
     (5) Provisions to encourage job placements in occupations that meet Washington's economic development goals, especially those in international trade and international relations. The board shall permit appropriate job placements in other states and other countries.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected."