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Five high school students are changing lives and state law tonight. These Armwood High School students helped create legislation to help teens who have been abandoned by their parents, but are too old to enter foster care. They’re called unaccompanied youth and in many cases they can’t get a drivers license or participate in school activates because they don’t have parents to give their consent. Twenty-one kids at Stephanie Walker and Tori Wilson’s high school face those problems everyday.

“They can’t get their birth certificate. They can’t get their license. They can’t sign a lease for a house, so they are pretty much homeless. We just really want to better their future because they pretty much can’t do anything without any of those documents,” said Walker.

“A lot of our students at school are going through this right now and I’m even in classes with some of them and it’s humbling to know I would be able to help them out,” said Wilson.

State Representative Rich Glorioso sponsored the bill. It came out of a contest he hosts called “It ought to be a Law.” The contest allows citizen to propose legislation.

“This will allow them to get their rights and take care of themselves. There are a lot of organizations helping these kids, but they can’t help them if they don’t have the identification. This gives them the identification,” said Glorioso.

The bill has passed both chambers and is headed to the governor’s desk. If he signs it, the estimated 65-hundred unaccompanied kids will have an easier time getting identification, applying for college and landing a job.