By Joseph Shapiro, Photo: Gary Hershon/Getty Images, National Public Radio, March 9, 2022
Child welfare officials in New York City say they will stop collecting all of the Social Security checks from children in foster care and using that money to cover the costs of their care, altering a practice criticized by advocates for children. And those advocates say they hope New York's action becomes a model for agencies across the country.
Jess Dannhauser, commissioner of the Administration for Children's Services, New York City's child protection agency, says soon the Social Security money will be placed in savings accounts that children can access when they leave foster care–either when they return to family, are adopted or age-out of foster care between ages 18 and 24.
"This is their money," Dannhauser says, "and they deserve to use it as they see fit."
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