There are about 13,000 youth currently living in foster care in Michigan. As one can imagine, being in foster care during those formative years can be a difficult experience. Thankfully, our state is blessed with many caring families who take these youngsters in to provide them a better life.

However, when the time comes for foster youth to graduate from high school and look to their future, college just might not be in the picture, not for lack of want or ability, but mostly because of financial concerns. In my view, that shouldn’t be a roadblock to a student’s career path. That is why I have long supported the Fostering Futures Scholarship Trust Fund.

The fund raises money through individual and group donations, sponsorships, ticket sales, auctions and many volunteer-based fundraising events. Last year, the Legislature expanded opportunities to contribute to the fund by adding a tax checkoff on our annual state income tax forms. While this has been a successful program — the state Department of Treasury, which oversees the fund, reported it has received over a million dollars since 2012 — many of us think we could do more.

Current legislation, sponsored by my colleague Sen. Peter MacGregor, would further expand the scholarship to also include trade and technical schools for those students not wishing to attend traditional four-year colleges and universities. Pursuing a career in the trades is a great option for many, and there are plenty of well-paying jobs waiting to be filled. This addition to an already great program would make it that much better, and I intend to vote for the bill when the time comes.

Some of the world’s most successful business leaders, musicians, entertainers and athletes were once foster youth. Like any child, those in foster care have potential to achieve great things, and Fostering Futures is a wonderful program that helps a great group of kids to fulfill their dreams.

If you are interested in learning more about the Fostering Futures scholarship, go to fosteringfutures-mi.com.