How a loophole deprives foster children of benefits

children in foster care are among our most vulnerable so how is it that the System supposed to look after their well-being is instead depriving them of an essential benefit Aaron moriarity has the anatomy of a loophole my family was really um centered around education and getting G's getting bees and everything Katrina white remembers just how determined her parents were to see her and all her siblings go to college I'm the last I'm the baby that never happened which parent did you lose first I lost my father first I was 9 years old then you lost your mom too I lost her in 2013 after living initially with an older sister white spent most of the next seven years in group homes like this throughout Southern California when you were younger did it ever occur to you you'd end up in foster care no I didn't even know what foster care was Ian Marx also landed in foster care I grew up in New Orleans Louisiana and I was in foster care for eight years I'm Anthony Jackson Anthony Jackson known as AJ spent his teenage years as a ward of the state of Minnesota Justin ketta in Michigan I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and I was in foster care for about three years each of these young people ended up in the care of the state for the worst possible reason the death of one or both parents when I was 15 years old unfortunately my father got diagnosed with a aggressive form of cancer Ian Mark's story is particularly heartbreaking his mom and dad were both in the military and my dad had killed my mother when I think it was around like 11 or 10 years old I found her body in my house but their shared loss doesn't end there after being placed in foster care they discovered the government benefits that they should have been receiving after the deaths of their parents had instead been claimed by the state Social Security benefits death benefits yes Social Security and veterans benefits and while I was in foster care I realized that I was supposed to be receiving these benefits I inquired with my case worker and they informed me that they would be taking the checks to reimburse themselves for my care and my siblings care and that's the issue here in Most states foster kids receive their care for free the only children who are singled out to pay for their own care are those receiving Federal benefits either because they're disabled or have a deceased parent it's not the state's money to take it's the child's money it's their property Amy harfi is the national policy director for the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law she says that children who have lost parents are often the most vulnerable we know that these young people have needs and we know that when the benefits are applied for there's a good use for them but right now they're being used only to benefit the state but aren't they taking the money for foster care no they're taking the money really in most cases to put in general State accounts nationally three4 of those in foster care entitled to benefits more than 25,000 children are affected by this practice but Amy hareld Says most kids have no idea since agencies often apply for Survivor and disability benefits without giving notice to the child or his or her relatives for sure the secrecy is really the most Insidious piece of this you know know a lot of States might stand up and defend this practice and to them I would say if this is all above board why is it you're doing it behind the kids backs why is it that you're never telling them or their attorneys that you're doing this the Social Security Administration estimates that $174 million in benefits a year are at stake but harfield believes the number is actually higher states are required by federal law to report back to the agency how much of these benefits they take each year but only about a dozen comply my mother didn't do all this work in the military just for the state to take this money and as you can hear do nothing with it no no changes no benefits for me Ian marks had it better than most he was placed with one family but often older children end up in group homes or Bounce from one place to another I lived in four different homes and attended four different schools during high school and if it's difficult to thrive in foster care it's even harder they say when you age out I age shout at 18 years old you don't have access to a caseworker anymore and you're basically on your own they may check and see if you have a job or if you have a place to stay but if not then you may just end up on the side of a street which has actually happened to a lot of people I was kind of like over here people like Katrina white when she aged out of foster care at the age of 21 in the fall of 2022 she ended up here living in a tent alongside a busy San Diego Freeway I would just wake up in the morning before like the street lights are off fully and look around and be like do I really want to be here white lived this way for more than 7 months while working part-time and taking college class classes online where would you mostly do your classes in my tent but were you scared I was I can't think of a single person who would have persevered in her situation Sarah powder once a foster child herself is now a project manager for a California nonprofit that helps people like Katrina who have no place to live after foster care to find housing every day for her was where can I go take a shower or use a bathroom so I can manage my hygiene and I can go to school and work and try to blend in white was homeless and penniless says powder while welfare agencies have been collecting her survivor benefits for years I happen to just piece it together with Katrina because I remembered in one of our earlier conversations that she mentioned both her parents had passed away this happens behind the backs of young people how widespread is this we think it's very widespread and that Most states are doing it it hasn't been easy to end the practice says Illinois Congressman Danny Davis he's been pushing since 2016 for Congress to prohibit States from taking Federal benefits from foster children let's put it in some kind of reserve a fund so that as those individuals AG out of the system they may have a nest a how are you so far Congressman Davis has been unable to get any version of the bill to a vote it has been challenging I'll put it that way but there is a growing recognition that children need more support when they leave foster care seven states have now pass laws to help children keep their Federal benefits although a similar bill in California was vetoed by the governor last year due to a shortfall in the state budget and there are signs that the federal agency that pays the benefits may do more why should children who happen to be also entitled to Social Security benefits have to pay for the foster care that other kids don't have to pay for well and that's the question I don't believe that it's fair I don't believe it's the right policy outcome Ali A former governor of Maryland became commissioner of the Social Security Administration late last year clearly there's a desire a hope that some of these dollars will be conserved for kids that are receiving Social Security benefits but it doesn't happen very often so you're admitting it doesn't happen isn't that a violation of your own regulations that this money is supposed to be conserved for these kids at this point it is not but the the question is should it be but any future changes will come too late for AJ and other children aging out of foster care now about how much money do you think you would have collected if you had been given those benefits a little under $772,000 over six years over six years you didn't see any of that not a dime and what about you Justin do you know how much money yeah uh over1 18,000 was taken all four have still managed to beat the odds and have gone on to college Anthony Jackson is working on an art degree Ian Marx is in law school Justin ketta recently graduated from the University of Michigan Katrina white is studying social work and now has stable housing she and Sarah powder who was once there herself says these are the lucky ones why do you feel so strongly about this issue of benefits because the outcomes of the young people who who leave foster care are so bad so until we have created a system that ensures that Foster youth get everything that they need and that they make this transition to adulthood successfully then it does not make sense for us to intercept money that could help them do that

Channel: CBS Sunday Morning

Views: 32,841

Keywords: CBS Sunday Morning, CBS News, news, foster care system

Id: SaA_EsCIlRs

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2024