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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) last Thursday signed a law ensuring that every foster child in Maryland receives<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/20/maryland-foster-youth-luggage-trash-bag-bill/" target=_blank> new luggage</a> when they enter foster care or move between homes. The law was passed after advocates testified this year that children without luggage had to stuff their belongings into trash bags.

Erica LeMon, director of advocacy for children’s rights at Maryland Legal Aid, said she’s seen how “demeaning” it’s been for children to use trash bags when traveling between homes. This law, she said, will give foster kids the respect they — and every child — deserve.

“We are showing them that we think that they are important, their things are important, their lives are important,” said LeMon, who testified about the bill before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee this year. “And this is such a small way to show it. But it’s a small way that gives you a large impact.”

The new Maryland law, which passed unanimously, requires the state’s Department of Human Services to maintain a supply of new luggage and develop procedures for how it is distributed. Similar laws giving luggage to foster youths were passed last year in <a href="https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/SB548" target=_blank>Oregon</a> and <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=HB3765" target=_blank>Texas</a>.

“As governor, there are few things more important than protecting our children and ensuring their success. Prioritizing appropriate luggage for their belongings is an essential part of responding to the needs of our children in foster care,” Moore wrote in a statement. “These children in many cases have been through so much, and it is our duty to ensure they’re treated with the dignity they deserve.”

There are about 3,800 children in foster care across Maryland each year, according to the bill’s fiscal and policy note. It’s estimated to cost at least $84,480 in fiscal 2025 to provide new luggage, such as duffel bags, to each child. The law would also require the Maryland Department of Human Services to track when children use a disposable bag to transport belongings and why they were not given luggage.

Sen. Nick Charles (D-Prince George’s County), who sponsored the Senate bill, testified this year that it was “disheartening” to hear children used trash bags to pack up their things.

“The emotional turmoil these children experience, already grappling with the uncertainty of their circumstances, being handed a symbol of disposability — a trash bag — for their cherished possessions should make us feel sick,” he said at the time.

Rafael J. Lopez, the state secretary of human services, testified Feb. 20 in support of the Senate bill, saying that no child should ever use a trash bag for their belongings, “and yet it still happens.”

Rob Scheer also testified this year in support of the bill. His Gaithersburg-based nonprofit, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/07/02/once-a-foster-child-himself-hes-launched-a-drive-to-show-every-separated-border-child-someone-cares/?itid=lk_inline_manual_32" target=_blank>Comfort Cases</a>, delivers care packages and luggage to foster children with the goal of eradicating the use of trash bags as luggage.

Scheer, who adopted five children from foster care, said he cried when he heard about the bills passing in the state House and Senate. He said he thought about his own experience carrying his belongings in a trash bag and all the other kids who had to do the same.

“I just finally felt they were seen,” Scheer said. “We have an opportunity to start these children off, knowing that they are seen, that they are loved. And that is giving them something that is new, not some torn, tattered trash bag. I want people to realize that these kids are in our community. They are our future.”

Delora Sanchez Ifekauche, who was in the Maryland foster care system and now mentors former foster youths, said she was looking forward to visiting a few girls at a group home next month and telling them about the new law.

“I can’t wait for them to realize that someone listened to them, and that their voices truly matter — that they matter,” she said.

University of Maryland, College Park

Ellie Silverman covers protest movements, activism and local news. At The Post, she has also covered local crime and courts. She previously reported on retail, breaking news and general assignment stories for the Philadelphia Inquirer, her hometown paper. She graduated from the University of Maryland, where she reported for the Diamondback.

Ellie Silverman

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Gov. Wes Moore signs new law requiring luggage for foster youth 

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Maryland Governor Wes Moore Holds a Bill Signing Ceremony

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