CAI’s Amy Harfeld Quoted on Michigan Law Stopping State from Taking Youth’s Federal Benefits
SAN DIEGO – University of San Diego (USD) School of Law Children’s Advocacy Institute’s (CAI) National Policy Director Amy Harfeld was quoted on a Michigan law signed by the Governor to stop the state from taking foster youth's social security benefits.
In addition, this new law set new notice and accounting rules for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and requires financial literacy training for teens in care.
According to the article, Harfeld stated that the agencies had made ‘poor decisions’ by taking funds at the expense of children. The new law is meant to correct that choice and keep kids from effectively being billed for their own foster care.
CAI and other groups say they plan to monitor compliance and push for clear procedures so that money intended for children is not siphoned off for unrelated administrative costs or quietly folded back into the budget.
CAI, with support from funders, has been leading a multidimensional campaign to eradicate nationwide the practice of states taking foster youth’s federal benefits. 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 issued a 50-state report card entitled, “Foster Care or Foster Con? Preserving the Federal Benefits of America’s Most Vulnerable Children.”
To learn more about CAI’s campaign to stop this practice, please visit our Preserving Federal Benefits of Foster Youth website.
To read the full article, please visit Hoodline Detroit.
About the Children’s Advocacy Institute
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.
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 our website.
About the School of Law
Each year, USD Law educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.
USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.