Kathy Stolz-Silvis spent almost 45 years of her childhood in a foster home in the state of Pennsylvania. Because Stolz-Silvis was only nine years old when her father passed away, she and her siblings became eligible for survivor benefits from Social Security. However, she did not become aware of these advantages until many years later, when she read an investigation that was co-published by The Marshall Project and NPR.
Stolz-Silvis said, “I called them out of curiosity to find out what happened to my benefits when I was in foster care.” The individual on the other end of the line informed me that they were not authorized to provide me with that information.
During the past few months, The Marshall Project and NPR have spoken with a number of formerly fostered children who have related stories of similar unsuccessful attempts to learn whether a state or local agency had applied to become their “representative payee.” This would allow the agency to receive the foster children’s federal benefits, which is a practice that is permitted by federal regulations. The foster children have described their experiences to The Marshall Project and NPR.
After her father passed away in Virginia while she was in foster care, Melody Masi claimed that she was entitled to receive death benefits from the Social Security Administration and the Veterans Affairs Department. She said that when she called Social Security, a representative told her that “she hears this stuff a lot,” but that “unfortunately, there’s nothing they can do about it.” She said that she was told this by the representative.
When Jayden Kiley was 17 years old and living in a foster home when her mother passed away, she became entitled to receive death benefits from Social Security. But for a period of eight months, between October 2019 and July 2020, she stated that nobody informed her about the benefits, nor did they inform her that her mother had passed away. That information was provided to her by one of her siblings.
“I had no idea about any of this,” Kiley admitted.
Kiley tried to get information from Social Security about her benefits for a period of two years. However, she reported that a representative told her that every time she called, she was placed at the bottom of a waitlist, so she eventually stopped calling for a period of time. She eventually learned that the amount owed to her is approximately $8,500, but she claimed that she hasn’t received any of it.
Advocates could only point to isolated instances in the past in which judges have reinstated a particular youth’s benefits.
Children’s Advocacy Institute, a non-profit organization that works on behalf of foster youth, has a national policy director named Amy Harfeld who has expressed her frustration with the failure of the agencies to take action. She stated that “it is unacceptable to ignore the young people who have been at the forefront of the requests.”
In the initial report that was conducted by the Marshall Project and NPR, the majority of child services agencies mentioned that it is permissible for them to apply to Social Security in order to become the financial representative for foster children’s benefits. Despite the fact that federal regulations state that a parent, foster parent, relative, or family friend is preferred, however, most child services agencies mentioned that it is legal for them to apply. Virtually every agency that was contacted revealed that they do, in fact, accept financial contributions from the children in their care as a form of reimbursement for the expenses incurred.
In a case that would go down in Alaska legal history as a landmark class action lawsuit, a district court ruled that the state should notify foster youth before they apply for their federal benefits. There are still pending appeals regarding this case.
In the meantime, legislators at all levels of government—local, state, and federal—have begun to address the problem.
The previous year, federal legislation that would have prevented state agencies from using the Social Security benefits of foster youths in their budgets was unable to advance in Congress for consideration. To quote the primary sponsor of the legislation, Democratic Representative Danny K. Davis of Illinois, “Yes indeed, we are still here after a year.”
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Davis has stated that he intends to reintroduce the legislation that will ensure that young people receive benefits while also maintaining federal support for child welfare systems during the summer of this year. The bill would require agencies to conduct interviews with foster children in order to determine whether or not any of the children’s relatives are eligible to be appointed as representative payees. These relatives would be responsible for setting aside money for the children once they reached an age when they could leave foster care.
Davis stated that “aging out” is a challenging time for many young people, and that it is most desirable that as much of the available resources get into the hands of the foster children as possible.
Following the publication of the investigation, legislators in a number of states, including Nebraska, Illinois, Connecticut, California, and Minnesota, have moved to address the problem. There are also proposals for a bill to be introduced in Hawaii next year.
