Identity Theft in the Foster System

• Author | Marlee Sacks
• Date | 11/3/2019 9:00 am

As you have read in our previous writings about children being the perfect targets for identity theft, we have learned that foster children are at a greater risk to this horrid crime. Since foster children are moving from home to home, their personal information is constantly being moved from home to home as well. *In fact, all of their personal information is stored in case management software, given to foster parents, schools, court officials and accessed by dozens of humans throughout their time in foster care. With all this movement of a child’s personal information, how could it not get into the wrong hands?

Imagine being a child in foster care your whole life, you turn 18, age out of the system, and are ready to embark on life as an independent adult. You go to the bank to get a student loan, and the bank denies you because you have a horrible credit history. You think to yourself, “this is scary and I don’t even know how to begin to fix this, how could this possibly happen?” You’re on your own, with no support, and now you must figure out how to clear your own name of a wrongdoing you didn’t even commit.

I wanted to share quotes from foster kids who are having to deal with identity theft:

*“I had someone close to me use my information to make two credit cards in my name and then take over the amount of the limit in California before it becomes a felony, so I’m currently facing and possibly a felony and jail time.” – foster youth victim

“I have found numerous accounts on my credit report that I never opened or knew about. I have had a hard time because of these accounts lowering my credit score and having trouble getting them deleted.” – foster youth victim 

“Somebody opened a credit card under my name a year ago, which I’m still dealing with now and this has also recently happened to my sister.” – foster youth victim

Congress passed a bill some time ago that requires case workers to conduct credit checks on foster kids between the ages of 16 and 18. The goal of this is to clear out any suspicious activity and clear their records before they get out of the system. If we lived in a perfect world, this could actually start to have some effect on the issue at hand. *However, we do not live in this so-called “perfect” world because the truth of the matter is that caseworkers are overloaded with the amount of work they have. This means that too many kids age out of the system before they are able to get their financial troubles resolved. To make matters worse, there is no way of tracking back to discover who has had access to the child’s personal information.

There is no real solution to these growing problems within the system. Limiting the amount of information third parties receive about the child could help prevent their personal information from being compromised, but this can not be the only solution. It is massively important to protect these kids from identity theft because this could be one less burden taken off their shoulders. There is a need for educating children about identity theft, especially those in the foster system. Wouldn’t it be powerful for foster youths to feel educated about their own financial futures?

*“Foster Care and Identity Theft: National Foster Care Month,” National Council for Adoption, June 1, 2018)

* Seth Freed Wessler, “Identity Thieves Target Foster Youth,” EHRP (EHRP, July 22, 2014), http://economichardship.org/archive/preying-on-the-vulnerable-foster-youth-face-high-risk-of-identity-theft?rq=identity theft)

* Lacey, “Foster Care and Identity Theft: Becoming Part of the Solution,” Identity Theft Resource Center (Charity Lacey)