ACF & HHS Notify 39 Governors That States Must Stop Diverting Foster Youths’ Earned Social Security Survivor Benefits

When some state child welfare agencies intercept federal benefits, such as Social Security survivor benefits earned through a deceased parent’s lifetime contributions and intended for a child in foster care, they use the funds to reimburse their own costs of providing care for the child. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent letters to 39 governors notifying those who allow this practice of its goal to ensure these benefits are no longer taken from foster youth and are preserved to support them as they transition out of state care . . .