The most important investment taxpayers can make often seems to end up at the bottom of the priority list.

Our state and federal leaders give tax cuts to support commerce and spend money to fight wars.

But they sometimes seem unable to grasp the fundamental fact that the development of our most precious resource, the nation’s young people, will make us more secure and more prosperous than any other investment.

The gap that leaves 18-year-old Manuel Bates on his own without any resources to provide security or help him acquire the skills he needs to succeed is one example of this government shortsightedness.

Bates was abandoned by his mother at birth, taken in by a series of relatives during his childhood and spent his adolescence in and out of group homes and with his mother and other relatives. Each year, more than 20,000 teens who turn 18 while in foster care in the United States can choose to remain in state custody and receive benefits such as tuition waivers, housing and training in life skills to help them be successful. (more…)