New Program Offers Rides for Foster Youth

The State of Michigan has implemented a new program to help foster youth in metro Detroit remain in school and maintain crucial social connections, even if they are moved from home to home to home.

The three-year contract, $1 million a year, provides transportation to and from school and after-school activities through Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive, a transportation company that supplements traditional bus routes. The service was launched last month and is available to foster youth whose school of origin is in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

And a reliable ride can reap lifelong benefits. Research has shown that moving from home to home, and sometimes, school to school, disrupts learning and social connections and activities crucial to development and can “erode a child’s or teen’s sense of self and overall health,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read more here from Bridge Michigan.