Sen. Bartolomeo Brings Out First Bill on Senate Floor

Press release 

As Senate Chair of the Children’s Committee, state Senator Dante Bartolomeo (D-Meriden) today (Thursday) introduced and explained her first bill on the Senate floor: a bill requiring state agencies – when hiring or placing people in internships – to give preference to former foster children who were once in state custody. 

The bill passed the Children’s Committee on a unanimous and bipartisan vote on March 28, and passed the Senate today on a unanimous and bipartisan 36-0 vote. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. 

“We heard testimony during the public hearing on this bill that foster children are less likely than their peers to graduate high school or college, and that 24 percent of foster children report no earned income in their first two years out of foster care,” Sen. Bartolomeo said. “So this bill gives young men and women who have been in state foster care the opportunity to get valuable internship experience.” 

The bill applies to former foster children who are between the ages of 18 and 24 and who were in Department of Children and Families custody on their 24th birthday.

The bill has no financial impact on state agencies

Earlier this week, Sen. Bartolomeo met with local residents to discuss education, health care and other state issues.