Should States Take Social Security Benefits Of Kids In Foster Care To Pay For Their Care?
From the
Baltimore Sun:
After Ryan Weinberger's parents died while he was in foster care,
Maryland collected his Social Security survivor's benefits of more than
$30,000 to help cover his state-funded living expenses.
Now
Weinberger, 21, wants to persuade the General Assembly to pass
legislation to stop the Department of Human Resources from confiscating
benefits available to hundreds of foster children each year. ...
Some
child welfare advocates are hoping Maryland will become one of the
first states to block a practice that state agencies across the country
quietly adopted decades ago. They want the money — projected to total
$15 million in Maryland over the next five years — to be set aside for
the foster children. The money could provide additional services for a
child or a nest egg when he or she leaves foster care, as Weinberger did
recently. ...
5 comments:
seems like an odd request.....since the intent of these benefits is to support survivors - and not make the taxpayers liable.
however, if the payments exceed the amount the state pays for foster care, it would seem right for those funds to go to the children in trust........
is there a gap here?
The purpose of survivor's benefits is to help the family meet basic expenses following the loss of the wage-earner parent/spouse, it is not to provide a nest egg for the survivors. If the State is providing for your basic needs, it ought to be able to use your federal benefits to offset expenses.
Are they serious? Income available to pay expenses is to pay expenses, not to save so the kids and/or family can go to Disney World when the child goes home.
It is sad that Ryan Weinberger didn't have some responsible and willing relatives, aunts and uncles or grandparents, who would raise him instead of sticking him into the system. That is sad. But it doesn't mean that the taxpayers should foot the whole foster care bill while the money that could be used for his support is sitting a trust fund for him. Not what survivor benefits were designed for.
As a young SSI claims rep many years ago I interviewed a payee mom who had to account for a large retro payment from a ALJ allowance. She did not want to account for or discuss this money. "this is my money" etc. Finally found out she and her kids went to, yes, Disneyworld using the retro funds. As a young CR I could not afford such a trip with my family. Real wake up call about the soft corruption in SSI.
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