The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a major warning to 39 governors, urging them to immediately protect Social Security benefits that belong to children in foster care. While many Americans associate Social Security with retirees, thousands of foster children also rely on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for their basic needs. These funds are meant to support the children not state budgets.
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States Accused of Diverting Foster Children’s Benefits
According to information cited by Daily Express US, child welfare agencies in 39 states have been using foster children’s Social Security survivor benefits to offset state foster care expenses. Instead of allowing the children to receive their earned benefits, states have reportedly been redirecting the money to cover their own operational costs.
ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams criticized the practice, emphasizing that these funds belong to foster youth alone. He stated that child welfare agencies must prioritize the best interests of children and ensure their financial resources are preserved. Social Security survivor benefits are especially important because they come from a deceased parent’s lifetime earnings and are meant to support the child’s future.
Thousands of Foster Children Impacted Nationwide
A September 2025 Social Security Advisory Report revealed that about 27,000 foster children over 5% of kids in the U.S. foster care system receive Social Security or SSI payments. These children represent one of the most vulnerable groups served by Social Security, and the issue of states taking their benefits has grown into a national concern.
AP News has reported that states save millions in taxpayer dollars by redirecting these children’s benefits toward state foster care operations. The ACF says its current effort aims to stop this long-standing practice and ensure that all benefits are used to support foster children directly, especially as they transition out of state care.
Longstanding Concerns Raised by Lawmakers
The controversy has drawn attention from federal lawmakers as well. During a March 2024 Senate hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley to ban states from seizing foster children’s survivor benefits. She noted that states took at least $179 million from foster children in 2018 alone to fund unrelated government activities.
Warren explained that many states even conduct internal screenings sometimes hiring data-mining firms to identify which foster children qualify for federal benefits, only to divert the payments into state accounts for general use, ranging from office supplies to prison-related expenses.
Some States Have Already Reformed Their Policies
There has been progress in some regions. Idaho, under Adams’ leadership when he headed the state’s Department of Health and Welfare, ended the practice of diverting foster children’s benefits. Today, Idaho is among 11 states with policies that prohibit the use of foster children’s Social Security funds for state expenses.
The ACF and the Social Security Administration are now pushing to change policies in the remaining 39 states, with the goal of ensuring that every dollar of survivor or disability benefits reaches the children they were intended to support.
FAQs
Q1. Can states legally take Social Security benefits belonging to foster children?
Some states have been taking these benefits to cover foster care costs, but federal authorities are now working to end this practice and return control of the funds to the children.
Q2. How many foster children receive Social Security or SSI benefits?
Approximately 27,000 foster children more than 5% of all kids in foster care receive these federal benefits.
