Foster Youth ID Theft Addressed in Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act

S. 1542:Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act was reported to Committee on September 20, 2011. Sen. Max Baucus [D-MT] is sponsoring this bill to amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to extend the child and family services program through fiscal year 2016, and for other purposes. Cosponsors are as follows: Orrin Hatch [R-UT], ,John Kerry [D-MA], John Rockefeller [D-WV], and Debbie Ann Stabenow [D-MI]

Full text can be viewed here.

The House passed its version of the bill on September 21, 2011.  H.R. 2883: Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act is sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis [R-KY4]. Its cosponsors are as follows: Rick Berg [R-ND], Earl Blumenauer [D-OR3], Charles Boustany [R-LA7], Joseph Crowley [D-NY7], Lloyd Doggett [D-TX25], James Langevin [D-RI2], Sander Levin [D-MI12], John Lewis [D-GA5], Kenny Marchant [R-TX24], James McDermott [D-WA7], Charles Rangel [D-NY15], Tom Reed [R-NY29], Dave Reichert [R-WA8], Peter Roskam [R-IL6], Fortney Stark [D-CA13] and Patrick Tiberi [R-OH12].

Full text can be viewed here.

Provisions for Foster ID Theft are as follows:

” SEC. 106. PROVISIONS RELATING TO FOSTER CARE OR ADOPTION.

(b) Foster Youth ID Theft- Section 475(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)) is amended–

(1) by striking ‘and’ at the end of subparagraph (G);

(2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (H) and inserting ‘; and’; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

‘(I) each child in foster care under the responsibility of the State who has attained 16 years of age receives without cost a copy of any consumer report (as defined in section 603(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act) pertaining to the child each year until the child is discharged from care, and receives assistance (including, when feasible, from any court-appointed advocate for the child) in interpreting and resolving any inaccuracies in the report.’”

US Representative Langevin of Rhode Island placed this provision into the bill. We discussed Rhode Island foster child identity theft here. We have three cases so far this year of foster care identity theft in our How Could You? archive.

“So many times, the kids in foster care already face a personal challenge,” R.I. Democrat Langevin told his colleagues during floor debate of the family services bill Wednesday afternoon. “It’s a shame” when such children face the added difficulty of financial abuse. Langevin’s interest in the issue stems in part from the fact that his mother cared for a number of foster children.

Langevin has proposed a series of initiatives against identity theft in the foster care system, including the credit check provision. He has cited studies to the effect that foster children are particularly vulnerable to financial abuse.

Langevin: Credit check combats financial abuse of foster kids
[The Providence Journal 9/21/11 by John E. Mulligan]

Update: President Obama signed this into law on September 30, 2011.

“About 4 percent of adults are victims of identity theft, according to federal estimates.

The discrepancy may be even worse for foster children. Officials in California reviewed credit reports of foster children in Los Angeles County and found more than 100 victims of identity theft who were 16 and 17 years old. Victims had an average of more than two accounts opened in their name, with an average of $1,800 in debts in each account.

Medical bills and telephone services were the most common type of account, followed by cable television service, credit cards and utilities.

One child was found to have a $217,000 home loan.

Robert Fellmeth, a law professor at the University of San Diego and director of the Children’s Advocacy Institute, estimates that as many as 30 percent of foster children may be the victims of identity theft.

The culprit could be a close relative wanting to pay a bill, open a utility account or support an addiction, Fellmeth said, though foster parents and child welfare officials are sometimes to blame, too.

Fellmeth said states have done a poor job of protecting foster children from identity theft. Too many, he said, age out of the system only to discover their credit is ruined and they have nowhere to turn.

“When these kids turn 18 many of them fall off a cliff,” he said. “The state hands out some brochures, give them a website address and it’s sayonara.”

States including California, Colorado and Connecticut have passed laws mandating credit checks for foster children before they leave state custody.

Langevin said he pushed for the new federal law after hearing one too many heartbreaking stories.”

Rep. Langevin “said he’d like to build on the law in the future by requiring annual credit checks for all foster children, regardless of their age.”

“The new law requires child welfare officials to help a foster child fix any problems that pop up on a credit check. Several nonprofit child advocacy groups already provide the service.”
New law protects foster kids from identity theft
[Forbes 10/10/11 by David Klepper]

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