California Governor Gavin Newsom must decide whether to pass or block a bill that would protect Social Security benefits for foster children.
Lawmakers in California have passed AB 2906 in an effort to end a long-standing practice in the state that saw counties intercepting federal Social Security survivor benefits from foster children.
These benefits belong to orphaned and disabled foster kids but are able to be taken by the counties under current laws. Due to today’s rules, counties can apply for foster kids’ benefits without telling the child or their representative, and a judge is not required to oversee the child’s care.
The money can then be used for their own funding despite the tax dollars being designated to take care of the foster children.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters in the spin room following the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at The National Constitution Center on September 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Newsom has to decide whether he will pass or block a bill that looks to protect foster childrens’ Social Security benefits.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Foster children routinely qualify for Social Security if they have a disability or had a parent pay a certain amount of money into the Social Security system before retiring, becoming disabled or dying.
A similar bill, AB 1512, was passed unanimously last year, but Newsom vetoed the measure, citing budget constraints.
“We are counting on Governor Newsom to revisit this important issue so that our foster youth can simply not have taken from them what is rightfully theirs and which they need to keep from becoming homeless while still teenagers,” said Robert Fellmeth, Founder and Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Institute in a statement. “It’s not every day that you get a second chance to do the right thing, but today is that day for our Governor.”
Under federal law, foster children’s survivor or disability benefits must be used to pay for the unmet needs of the child or saved for their future when they turn 18.
Many foster children graduate without any housing or money to obtain a financial education, so the money withheld from them would go a long way in securing a better future once they age out of the foster system, experts say.
“This bill is needed in the fact that, more often than not, children in foster care fail to receive the same level of legislative support in many states that other groups who face significant economic barriers receive,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
Somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000 children in California are eligible for Social Security benefits, but they often face poverty or outright homelessness after reaching 18 years of age.
Between the ages of 19 and 21, 29 percent of former foster youth experienced homelessness, according to the Children’s Advocacy Institute.
“These funds amount to a rounding error for counties,” Fellmeth said. “For eligible foster youth, having access to their money could mean an entirely different life, one in which they have a real shot at stable housing, food security, transportation, and education. For the Governor to turn his back on these most vulnerable children a second time would be devastating.”
In 2021 alone, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services took $5.4 million in disability and survivor benefits intended for 600 of the county’s foster children, according to a report from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Newsweek reached out to the SSA and Newsom for comment via email.
So far, Arizona, D.C., Oregon and Massachusetts have also advanced reforms that would strengthen protections for foster children’s Social Security benefits.
“There is already momentum in our largest counties,” Amy Harfeld, National Policy Director for the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law, said in a statement. “Los Angeles and San Diego recently committed to voluntarily stop taking children’s benefits. This money could provide a lifeline for thousands of vulnerable California foster children who will be far less likely to end up on the streets.”
The problem is widespread beyond the state of California.
Previously, an investigation by Resolve Philly and The Philadelphia Inquirer revealed the city took $5 million in foster children’s Social Security payments between 2016 and 2020 by transferring them to the general fund.
“In the last few years, some states have faced criticism and even litigation over denying those in foster care the payments they should be receiving,” Beene said. “Guaranteeing this support goes a long way in protecting and supporting a frequently overlooked population who normally desperately relies on income Social Security provides.”
