Experience in other states shows that investigation and preparation for DNA review requests can take up to 18 months or more to litigate. That's cutting things too close. The deadline could easily be extended to four or five years by the General Assembly. Also, as experts point out, the time limit fails to recognize that science is continually making advances that could be relevant to old crimes. The new DNA testing law is an excellent tool to ensure that those who are innocent get released from the justice system as quickly as possible.
Lawmakers can make it a better law by extending the deadline for application.
They are on their own. The state, having separated them from neglectful or abusive parents and placed them with paid surrogates, dusts its hands and moves on. Often young people end up right back in neglectful and abusive situations. Not surprisingly, too many former foster children fall prey to bad influences and wind up pregnant, addicted to drugs, involved in crime and in jail. Besides that, finding a place to live and setting up a household are beyond the means of most teens with basic educations and few job skills.