Pressing Issues

Youth in foster care are a vulnerable class when it comes to identity theft.  They may become victims at the hands of their care providers or family members who have access to their personal information.  Often these youth have no knowledge that they are victims of identity theft until after they are adults. Providing foster youth with access to their credit information, guidance in interpreting that information, and ensuring appropriate changes and corrections are made can help guarantee that identity theft does not hinder their success once they begin living independently.

New Legislation

Recently new legislation has been adopted to aide in protecting foster youth from identity theft.  The “Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act” added an entirely new section to 42 U.S.C. 675(5) concerning foster youth ID theft.  The language provides that:

“[E]ach 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 advocated for the child) in interpreting and resolving any inaccuracies in the report.”  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c112:1:./temp/~c1126BZROi:e26985:#

The Act’s effective date is October 1, 2011.  As a result CLC attorneys will need to pay special attention to their older clients’ credit history. The law provides that attorneys are responsible for going through reports with their client’s and seeing to it that any and all inaccuracies contained in those reports are corrected.  Any relevant court action will be in the hands of attorneys appointed by the court.

As mentioned in our April 2011 practice point, “Identity Theft and Your Client,” CLC feels it is important that you counsel your client on how to prevent, detect and recover from identity theft. Identity theft issues can be complex, expensive and time consuming.  As a result, CLC envisions that its volunteer attorneys will be particularly proactive and persistent when working with the court and social service agencies on this issue. Please note the following link to CLC’s practice point on this issue:  http://www.clcmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/APRIL-2011-Practice-point.pdf

Please contact CLC with any questions on addressing the issue of identity theft with your clients.

7.19.2011

“Foster children are one of the most educationally vulnerable populations in our schools”⁽¹⁾.

Barton Allen and James Vacca, in their recent study about the negative academic effects of frequent moves on foster children assert this claim, citing that foster youth are not given equal opportunities for academic achievement and that many are not encouraged to pursue higher education.

During their time in care, foster children, on average, are moved through three different placements ⁽²⁾. These moves can happen with little or no warning and often force a child to change school districts, leaving their friends, teachers, and coaches behind. A 2000 study of foster children in New York found that 65% had transferred schools mid-year ⁽³⁾.

Transferring schools presents roadblocks to any child, but especially to those children who transfer frequently or in the middle of an academic calendar. Missing school records can cause delays in school registration and force children to remain out of school for days or weeks. Transfers also require children to adapt to new teachers and schoolmates, and a curriculum that may differ considerably from their previous school.

These obstacles have a harmful effect on educational outcomes. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, students who change schools frequently are more likely to have poor test scores, repeat a grade, or drop out than those who have consistent and stable education.  Moreover, studies have shown that compared to non-foster youth, foster children have higher rates of grade repetition, absenteeism, truancy, and tardiness, and lower standardized test scores (⁴⁾. Seventy-five percent of foster youth are behind grade level ⁽⁵⁾.

The statistics are just as grim for those foster care youth hoping to pursue higher education. Frequent transfers and frustration with school result in disengagement and dropping out. Only 46% of foster youth complete high school, compared to 84% of the general population⁽⁶⁾. Furthermore, 70% of foster youth report that they want to attend college, but fewer than 10% of those who graduate from high school enroll in college and of those, less than 1% graduate from college ⁽⁷⁾.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

1. Allen, B. & Vacca, J. (2009). Frequent moving has a negative affect on the school achievement of foster children. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 829-932.
2. US Dept. of Health and Human Services AFCARS report, 2003
3. Advocates for Children of New York, Inc., 2000, p. 5
4. Martin, J. (2003). Foster youth desire college, study shows, but face roadblocks to learning, Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom
5. Barriers Facing Foster Youth Statistics, Honoring Emancipated Youth
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.

In Miranda v. Arizona, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution’s guarantee against self-incrimination required police to warn criminal suspects who are in custody and subject to interrogation about their rights to remain silent and to consult with an attorney. In subsequent opinions, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that whether a suspect was “in custody” for Miranda purposes depended on the objective circumstances of the interrogation, and whether a reasonable person would have felt free to leave.

On June 16, 2011, in J. D. B. v. North Carolina the U.S. Supreme Court held that juveniles are entitled to expanded Miranda protection. In this 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court explains that a reasonable child may feel pressured to submit to police questioning where a reasonable adult feels free to end an interrogation. Therefore, although it may not be determinative, a juvenile suspect’s age is a factor police must consider when deciding whether to give a Miranda warning.

Many Minnesota foster youth don’t know what it’s like to live in a family home.

• Approximately 24.7% of Minnesota foster youth are living in group homes, or institutions/residential treatment centers. - Study of Federal 2009 data by National Coalition for Child Protection Reform

• According to the US Department of Health and Human Services state by state data on child welfare for 2009, Minnesota has the second highest percent in the country of residential treatment and group home placements. Also of Minnesota children 12 or younger who entered foster care, 17 % were placed in a group home or residential treatment center.

• A recent report by First Star and Children’s Advocacy Institute aptly reminds us how difficult it can be for children who grow up in group homes or institutions to lead normal adult lives. The report states that “An estimated 40% of foster children fourteen and older live in group homes or other institutionalized settings where their caretakers are often poorly paid shift workers. Such a setting leaves these young people — who have been dropped into a world full of unknowns — without the connections, familiarity and supports that other children take for granted. Furthermore, and particularly for children who live their teen years in group homes, these youth do not benefit from normal growing-up experiences. As one report notes, “[m]any youth in group care never see an adult pay bills, fill out income tax forms, arrange for car insurance, or undertake the dozens of other mundane tasks required to run a household.”- The Fleecing of Foster Children: How We Confiscate Their Assets and Undermine Their Financial Security, 2011.

Every year, about 20,000 to 22,000 young people exit or “age out” of the foster care system, typically at age 18.  The system, and whatever it provided, simply disappears.  These youth are on their own, virtually penniless, with no place to call home.  How do former foster care children fare as adults?  Four years after “aging out” of the system:

• 25% have been homeless;

• less then half have graduated from high school;

• 42% have become parents themselves; and

• more than 80% are unable to support themselves.

A recent study found that adults who have been in foster care suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder at twice the rate of US combat veterans, and more than half experience serious mental health problems.

- Association of Small Foundations