Children's Advocacy Institute's Amy Harfeld Appears on CBS Sunday Morning on Preserving Foster Youth Federal Benefits

University of San Diego (USD) School of Law Children’s Advocacy Institute’s (CAI) Amy Harfeld, National Policy Director and Senior Staff Attorney appeared on CBS Sunday Morning with Erin Moriarty to discuss the practice of states claiming foster youth’s Social Security, death, or veterans benefits as representative payees to reimburse themselves for the foster youth’s care. 

According to Harfeld, "It's not the state's money to take; it's the child's money. It's their property." Harfeld said children who have lost parents are often the most vulnerable. "We know that these young people have needs, and we know that when the benefits are applied for, there's a good use for them," she said. "But right now, they're being used only to benefit the state." And according to Harfeld, the money isn't being taken for foster care: "No, they're taking the money really, in most cases, to put in general state accounts."

"For sure, the secrecy is really the most insidious piece of this," Harfeld said. "A lot of states might stand up and defend this practice, and to them I would say, if this is all above board, why are you doing it behind the kids' backs? Why is it that you're never telling them, or their attorneys, that you are doing this?"

CAI, with support from funders, has been leading a multidimensional campaign to eradicate this practice nationwide. A well-established leader on this issue, CAI is leading reform efforts at the federal, state, and local levels to protect the rights and preserve the benefits of foster youth. CAI will be issuing a 50 state report card this month to highlight the issues within each state and nationwide.

To watch the full segment, visit CBS News.

To learn more about CAI’s campaign to stop this practice, please visit our Preserving Federal Benefits of Foster Youth website.

The Children's Advocacy Institute (CAI), founded at the nonprofit University of San Diego School of Law in 1989, is one of the nation's premiere academic, research, and advocacy organizations working to improve the lives of children and youth, with special emphasis on improving the child protection and foster care systems and enhancing resources that are available to youth aging out of foster care.

In its academic component, CAI trains law students and attorneys to be effective child advocates throughout their legal careers. Its Child Advocacy Clinic gives USD Law students three distinct clinical opportunities to advocate on behalf of children and youth, and its Dependency Counsel Training Program provides comprehensive training to licensed attorneys engaged in or contemplating Dependency Court practice.

CAI's research and advocacy component, conducted through its offices in San Diego, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C., seeks to leverage change for children and youth through impact litigation, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and public education. Active primarily at the federal and state levels, CAI's efforts are multi-faceted—comprehensively and successfully embracing all tools of public interest advocacy to improve the lives of children and youth. To support CAI’s work, please visit law.sandiego.edu/caigift.

— USD News Center