ICYMI: Foster Youth, Advocates, and State Lawmakers Rally to End the Use of Trash Bags for Foster Youth
Foster youth moving between placements have long had to suffer the insult of using trash bags to carry their belongings. On Wednesday, March 26th, a day of action in Albany followed the exclusion of a bill supporting dignified luggage in one-house budgets.
On March 26, state lawmakers and foster youth held a rally and press conference at the Capitol Building in Albany to demand New York include legislation that guarantees proper, dignified luggage for foster youth in the state budget—thereby ending the common practice of forcing foster youth to transport their belongings in trash bags.
The rally came after a bill introduced this year to provide luggage to foster youth was left out of the Assembly and Senate one-house budgets. Refusing to take “no” for an answer, foster youth and advocates from across the state traveled to Albany to speak out about the undignified experience of having to use trash bags for their belongings. They were joined by State Senator Jabari Brisport, the bill’s lead sponsor; State Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, the lead sponsor in the Assembly; Senator Robert Jackson, a sponsor of the bill; Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest; and Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia. Each spoke in support of the bill and its inclusion in the state budget, alongside impacted youth and other community members, shining a light on this dehumanizing practice in the process.
Caption: Young people from across New York State gathered at the Capitol Building, right outside the Assembly chamber on March 26 to advocate for funding to provide luggage for young people in care. Photo: Louis Young, Fair Futures.
State Senator Jabari Brisport: “Foster kids shouldn’t be forced to carry their belongings in trash bags between placements. S.3781 would provide them actual luggage—which is the literal least we owe our foster youth.”
State Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi: “We’ve got to respect our youth—they are the future of our tomorrow—and we should do that by investing a small amount of money from the budget to make sure they have appropriate luggage, like every other adult.”
State Senator Robert Jackson: “I am here because every child deserves dignity. Today, too many kids in New York are forced to carry their lives in garbage bags, as if their memories and hopes are disposable. This is not just unacceptable—it’s immoral. With S.3781, we draw the line. The line is no more black plastic trash bags. No more silent humiliation. This bill says you are not forgotten, you are not disposable, you matter and your journey matters, and we see you.”
Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest: “I am here today not only as an assemblymember but as a former nurse and someone who worked in administration for Children’s Services. As an ACS nurse, it was common to receive children in the middle of the night with no personal belongings—or with all their belongings stuffed into trash bags lined up outside. There is something deeply unsettling about being forced from your home without knowing why, only to have everything you own placed in a garbage bag. When we talk about luggage, we’re talking about more than just a bag—we’re talking about what is meaningful to these children, what is important to them, and what they need to carry with them through their journey.”
Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia: “I am here as a mother of four sons. Our children deserve the best and they deserve dignity.”
Dominique “Dylan” Tatom: “I am here today to support Senate Bill S.3781 to ensure that foster youth no longer have to carry their belongings in trash bags. Almost ten years ago, I aged out of the New York City foster care system after moving through nine different homes. Every single time I was relocated, I transported my belongings in a trash bag. Unfortunately, one of those times, I lost everything I owned. Every experience, every memory—gone in an instant. New York State must do better for our young people. These experiences stay with them and send a harmful message—that they don’t matter, that what they own isn’t valuable, and that their future isn’t valuable. We have to be mindful of the message we are sending. Spending $15 on a duffle bag is a drop in the bucket. New York State can do better, and New York State must do better. A trash bag does not protect a child’s belongings from the weather. It’s not safe. It’s not dignified. We have to give our young people a sense of belonging, even as they navigate some of the most difficult moments of their lives.”
Reannon Matulewich: “I am here today with two of my siblings—I’m 20, they’re 26. I’ll be aging out of foster care in three months, while they have been out of the system for five years now. We entered foster care twice. The first time, I was 9 years old. It was 8 o’clock at night when they told us to gather our things. I remember grabbing my stuffed animal and my Dora blanket, tying them up in a Walmart bag—that was all I had. When you’re in that moment, you hold onto the little you have, and the fact that we weren’t even given proper luggage to carry our belongings sent a clear message: we were worth nothing. It felt like we were leaving pieces of ourselves behind—and we lost everything.”
Cheyanne Gallagher: “We had just ten minutes to pack. I don’t even remember what I took with me, but I know it wasn’t clothing. They gave us hospital clothes, and we couldn’t even find comfort in our own things. The second time we entered the system, we were given clothes—but they were still stuffed into a trash bag. We are fighting for this bill because all foster youth deserve proper luggage. We have so little control over our lives, but we will not stay silent. We demand change.”
Anthony Turner, director at Fair futures: “As an alumni of foster care in New York, I had to constantly use garbage bags to carry my belongings—a dehumanizing experience. Lugging around a trash bag while moving from one home to another, I could feel the judgment from people watching me. Today, I am simply asking that we pass this bill so that all foster youth can maintain their dignity and feel humanized as they transition into new homes. We deserve duffel bags—no more garbage bags.”
Destiny L.: “The majority of people see trash bags as nothing more than a material for waste and disposal. However, for those who grew up in the foster system, trash bags are used to carry and store their personal belongings. This is the reality for far too many foster children—a reality that unconsciously brings shame and strips away a child’s sense of dignity. A reality that should never be normalized. Today, we ask the State of New York to stand with us in passing this bill so that one day, children and young adults in the foster system will see trash bags for what they truly are—meant for waste and disposal, not for carrying their lives.”