Katrina White never thought she would end up in foster care, but after losing both of her parents at a young age, she spent three years in a Southern California group home. When she aged out of the system, she had no family to rely on, no money, no home, and nowhere to go. She ended up living in a tent just off the freeway for almost seven months, and bounced in and out of various homeless shelters, while working part time and taking college classes.
As it turns out, Katrina was legally entitled to life-changing money. When her biological parents died, she became entitled to their Social Security survivor benefits which they had contributed to during their working years. The county responsible for her care – the same county that had already received millions in tax dollars to administer care to all foster children – had, without notifying her, her lawyer, or the judge overseeing her case, applied to the Social Security Administration to receive her benefits. It then took every last dollar of her money to reimburse itself for the cost of her care.
For foster kids like Katrina, these benefits would have allowed her to transition into stable and safe housing, and ensure she had her basic needs met as she launched into adulthood without her parents. Approximately 29 percent of foster youth who remain in the foster care system past the age of 17 have experienced homelessness in some capacity between the ages of 19 and 21. As California spends billions to address the state’s homeless problem, it is exacerbating it by taking money that legally belongs to abused and neglected children, pushing them onto the streets.
Katrina soon found out she wasn’t alone.
In 2021 alone, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services paid itself $5.4 million in disability and survivor benefits intended for 600 of its foster children. However, since this practice has come to light, Los Angeles and San Diego counties have vowed to stop this practice for some of the foster children in their care. The rest of the state must follow suit.
Most everybody understands that those acting as fiduciaries may not take the money for themselves, but that is precisely what happens here. In a recent advisory, the Social Security Administration admonished foster care agencies “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.” SSA then stated: “We commend the jurisdictions that have already made or are considering changes” that “optimize how they use and conserve Social Security benefits and SSI payments for foster youth.” California is out of compliance with federal law and policy.
Last year, legislation sponsored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan from Culver City (AB 1512) would have ended this practice. Despite unanimous approval by the Legislature, Governor Newsom vetoed the bill, citing then-emerging budget constraints. A scaled-back version of that bill (AB 2906) again sits on Newsom’s desk, having passed the Legislature unanimously again.
Newsom must right last year’s wrong and sign the bill. Transitioning to adulthood is a fraught time for all youth, and is exponentially more so for children who must confront the world alone after losing their parent(s), who are raised in a too-often loveless and broken system, and who must at absurdly young ages fend entirely for themselves. These are children of the state – no different from our children. Do we really have to say out loud that stealing from them is wrong?
Amy Harfeld is the National Policy Director for the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law.
