Lawmakers, Shapiro admin push to end practice of counties taking Social Security money owed to foster kids
Lawmakers are renewing a push to end the practice of Pennsylvania counties diverting Social Security benefits owed to children in foster care into their own budgets, after new federal directives called on states to take action.
An investigation published last year by Resolve Philly and Spotlight PA that analyzed four years of data found at least 1,300 children in Pennsylvania have had money taken from them this way, to the tune of at least $15.7 million.
State Reps. Rick Krajewski (D., Philadelphia) and Sheryl Delozier (R., Cumberland) joined advocates and former foster youth at an April 13 event at the Pennsylvania Capitol to urge passage of HB 151, which would stop child-serving agencies from intercepting these funds and start conserving them for youth to use after they exit care.
The revived effort to pass the legislation, which they co-authored, follows a new directive issued in December by the federal Administration for Children and Families, which urged governors to “ensure these earned benefits are no longer taken from foster youth and are instead preserved to support them as they transition out of state care.”