California takes money that belongs to foster kids, leaving them unprepared to live independently | Opinion

For years, California’s counties have been secretly intercepting federal survivor and disability benefits of abused and neglected foster children and using the funds to add to the money taxpayers already provide for care. Governments are essentially stealing from these children’s futures, and the practice should be stopped.

When a biological parent of a child in foster care dies, the child is entitled to the parent’s Social Security survivor benefits. And, just like any other child, if a child in foster care has a qualifying disability, they may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits to pay for treatment or assistance. Federal law requires that these benefits are to be used or conserved in the best interest of the beneficiary.

Foster kids are entitled to these funds — not the state or counties. And the obligation to pay for foster care belongs to the government — not the children. In many cases, these children (their attorneys and guardians) aren’t aware the state is applying for and receiving these benefits on the children’s behalf.

This practice has dire consequences, which include needlessly adding to the state’s growing homeless crisis. When foster youth age out of care, they are often given a trash bag for their belongings and dropped off at a homeless shelter. Unsurprisingly, upwards of 40% of foster youth experience homelessness by age 21. Imagine the overwhelming burdens faced by former foster youth who are disabled or have a deceased parent.

Instead, if we simply conserved federal benefits for children in foster care, they could put them to use for rent, utilities and food to support themselves as they transition to independent living.

This harmful practice is also out of compliance with a 2018 federal law requiring data sharing between the Social Security Administration and child welfare agencies. The Children’s Advocacy Institute is currently serving as counsel on behalf of two San Diego-area former foster children seeking to recoup their lost money and seeking an injunction implementing federal legal standards requiring counties to prioritize the needs of children in spending or conserving the money.

This practice is a fundamental abstention from basic due process.

Opinion

California isn’t the only state taking money from foster children. So how do states and counties get around legislative intent and federal requirements when pocketing the money for their own use? By not telling anyone — not the judge overseeing the case, the foster parents, the child’s lawyer or even the foster child themselves — that they are using the child’s benefits to offset the costs of foster care.

The federal Social Security Administration has begun to encourage more states to set aside these funds for the foster children to use as they age out of the system. The administration recently issued new guidance for states and counties that administer foster youth programs, reminding them they are “to carry out the duties of representative payees, including meeting regularly with beneficiaries and deciding on an individual basis how to use and save benefits in the beneficiaries’ best interests.”

Assembly Bill 2906, authored by Asm. Isaac Bryan, D-Culver City, is pending legislation that would partially end this practice in California. The bill recently passed the Senate after unanimously passing the assembly and now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

States across the nation are taking action to prohibit or curb this practice: Arizona, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, D.C. have stopped taking kids’ benefits, and dozens of other states have passed or are attempting to implement reform. Los Angeles and San Diego Counties have already announced that they will voluntarily stop taking kids’ benefits.

The federal Social Security Administration, which has been reviewing state practices related to this issue, issued an advisory commending states and counties that have reversed this practice, reminding them that the administration counts on them to “use and save benefits in the beneficiaries’ best interests.”

Advocates came within a whisker of getting substantial reform done last year, when the legislature unanimously passed AB 1512 (which, like the current AB 2906, would have ended the practice of states taking monetary benefits from foster kids). Regrettably, Newsom vetoed AB 1512, citing budget constraints.

The new bill, AB 2906, is far narrower, applying only to Social Security survivor benefits (not disability benefits), so the cost to the state has significantly decreased. But for thousands of youth aging out of the foster care system without a support network, a job or a place to live, these funds could mean the difference between a security deposit or fending for themselves on the streets.

We have another chance to get on the right side of this arcane, cruel policy and protect our foster youth. Let’s put an end to this dishonorable and unacceptable practice.