Teresa Casados, responsible for overseeing child welfare in New Mexico, was taken aback during a legislative hearing in July when a lawmaker posed an unusual question. The legislator inquired whether the state was intercepting Social Security checks meant for children in foster care, specifically those designated for orphans and disabled youngsters. Government Caught Stealing Foster Kids’ Social Security Checks
Casados recalls her initial disbelief: “My reaction really was: That can’t be right.” She had recently assumed the role of acting secretary for New Mexico’s Children, Youth & Families Department. Upon returning to the office with her chief legal counsel, they investigated further and confirmed that indeed, such a practice had been ongoing within the agency for quite some time. In 2021, a joint investigation by NPR and The Marshall Project uncovered that this practice was widespread nationwide, prompting calls for reform. Subsequently, 15 states and cities have implemented measures to safeguard the funds of foster youth, with several other state legislatures considering similar actions.
Furthermore, in a recent development, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration sent a letter to state and local child welfare agencies, encouraging them to adopt these changes. The NPR/Marshall Project investigation revealed that in nearly every state, including the District of Columbia, child welfare agencies routinely sought Social Security checks for young individuals entering foster care, or enrolled them in benefits if eligible. These checks were typically cashed by state agencies without informing the children or their families.
States justified this practice as reimbursement for foster care expenses, even though existing state and federal laws already obligated them to cover these costs. Consequently, only impoverished children, who received Social Security benefits due to being orphans, disabled, or having disabled parents, were billed for their foster care. Approximately 10% to 20% of children and youths in foster care are believed to be eligible for Social Security benefits, with one program providing survivors’ benefits to children who’ve lost a parent and another, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), offering stipends to disabled individuals.
Shortly after the legislative hearing in New Mexico, Casados’ department issued a directive to cease using these funds for care and support. They committed to setting aside the Social Security benefit checks for foster children to access when they reunite with their families or age out of foster care.
This move is significant because most youths exiting foster care lack financial resources. Many struggle to afford college and often end up unemployed or homeless.
However, helping children save their Social Security funds poses challenges for child welfare agencies, necessitating the establishment of separate accounts that don’t penalize youths receiving means-tested benefits.
A recipient of SSI, with a maximum amount of $914 in 2023, cannot accumulate more than $2,000 in assets or savings. The letter to child welfare agencies provided guidance on how to avoid this limit, aiming to reshape practices in this regard.
Rebecca Jones Gaston, the commissioner of the federal Administration on Children, Youth, and Families and co-author of the letter, believes this approach encourages a fresh perspective: “We’re, in many ways, setting the stage for folks to really be thinking differently about how to do this. We want young people transitioning out of foster care to have what they need to move into adulthood successfully.”
While some child welfare advocates view the letter from Washington as a positive initial step, they express disappointment that it didn’t go further. Amy Harfeld of the Children’s Advocacy Institute notes that “the administration missed a leadership opportunity” to definitively assert that using children’s money and assets for an agency’s gain, without their knowledge, is never in the child’s best interest.
Change is gradually unfolding, driven by bipartisan support in places like Arizona, Oregon, and New Mexico, as well as major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Foster youth are paying attention to these developments. Justin Kasieta, now 22, was just 13 when his father passed away, placing him in the role of caregiver for his four younger siblings. He relied on Social Security survivors’ benefits to support his family. After entering foster care a few years later, Michigan intercepted his checks to cover the cost of care, a move he found unjust. Kasieta managed to attend college with scholarships and grants, but he believes those Social Security checks could have been instrumental.
Last month, he graduated from the University of Michigan with prospects in finance and government. He’s now advocating for a Michigan bill that aims to preserve Social Security benefits for children and youths in foster care.