End “Orphan Tax” on Foster Kids

By Rally on 1-13-2026 in Foster Care, Foster Care Reform, Money, Resource

“Stop the long-standing practice of taking Social Security benefit checks from some children and youth in foster care.” [Sounds good!]

In a letter to governors, sent in early December, Alex Adams, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told states to end what he calls “the orphan tax.”

Adams, who oversees federal child welfare policy, told states to quit taking Social Security survivor benefits from children in foster care. The monthly benefit is paid to a child whose mother or father has died but had worked and paid Social Security taxes.

States routinely take these checks from children and youth who are in foster care as reimbursement for the cost of a child’s care — although, by law, states are required to provide foster care to all children who need it. []

“There is no moral justification for why orphans should have to pay their own way,” [Duh!]Adams told NPR. “They are not in foster care by any fault of their own. And they certainly should not be asked to pay their own bill.

An NPR investigation with The Marshall Project in 2021 exposed the issue of states taking survivor benefit checks from children in foster care.

Since then, Democratic and Republican leaders in several states and cities have moved to end the practice.

The average monthly survivor benefit check is around $1,100.”

“Justin Kasieta knows this. He told his story to Adams: That he was 13 when his father died from cancer, and the survivor benefit kept his family together for a while. But when his mother struggled with health issues, Kasieta and his four siblings went into foster care.

Kasieta says the state of Michigan cashed $18,000 of his checks over three years.[]

Almost every child who goes into foster care is impoverished and almost all leave foster care broke. Kasieta, now 25, got scholarships to college and has a job at a corporate investment bank in Atlanta.

“I like to make it clear that I’m really the exception to the rule,” Kasieta says.

“Unfortunately, the rule is that most kids will become homeless. They won’t go to college. They will be unemployed. ”

“Adams changed the policy in Idaho when he served as director of the state’s Department of Health and Welfare. When he took the job, a colleague sent him an article about the practice of cashing survivor benefits.

“Frankly, my first reaction in Idaho was there’s no way this is actually happening,” he says. When he gathered his staff, they told him it was true. He moved earlier this year to end the practice.

In his new job, running the Administration for Children & Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Adams quickly sent the notification to governors of 39 remaining states to change their policies.”

“At ACF, Adams oversees federal funding of child care and Head Start. Late last month, ACF halted payments for child care programs in Minnesota.

Action to guarantee foster kids their benefit checks has won support across political parties.”

“A fix to return those disability checks to foster youth would likely require action by Congress and other federal agencies.”[Oh great! Congress won’t address this issue!]