PROTECTING AND PRESERVING CHILDREN’S FEDERAL BENEFITS
Every year, tens of thousands of children enter foster care eligible for federal disability or survivor benefits. Shamefully, states across the country take foster children’s social security and veterans’ benefits and use the funds to reimburse themselves for caring for the abused children in their custody. After being removed from their homes, this practice forces some children to pay for their own cost of care. Additionally, this practice depletes a resource that could meet crucial needs child welfare agencies are unwilling to cover or be a significant support for youth who are exiting care and transitioning into adulthood without familial support.
In 2023, the Center for the Rights of Abused Children fought to end the theft of children’s federal benefits, preserving those funds in the best interest of the child. In this toolkit, policymakers will learn essential elements of legislation to stop this insidious practice in their own states and practical pointers from the Arizona model reform.