State v. Z.C.

Alaskan children in foster care who received federal benefits brought a lawsuit against Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services (OCS), challenging OCS’s practice of appropriating children’s federal SSI and OASDI benefits. 

Juvenile Law Center and 10 other advocacy organizations and advocates joined an amicus brief filed by Children’s Advocacy Institute and Venable LLP in the Supreme Court of Alaska in support of the plaintiffs. The brief argued that children in foster care desperately need their financial benefits, and that the law does not pose any obstacles to them receiving benefits. The brief further argued that OCS’s policy violates equal protection under the Alaska Constitution, and that plaintiffs are entitled to restitution. 

Juvenile Law Center later joined Children’s Advocacy Center, Venable LLP, and 11 other advocacy organizations in filing an additional amicus brief in the Supreme Court of Alaska. The brief argued that children in foster care have a constitutional right to notice when the state obtains and seeks to control federal benefits on their behalf. The brief further argued that federal law does not preempt this right to due process under the Alaska constitution.