BOISE, ID – A federal official from Idaho is taking steps in his new post to end a nationwide practice of states collecting Social Security benefits entitled to foster youth and using it to pay for the children’s care.
The U.S. Administration for Children and Families, or ACF, on Thursday announced it notified governors of the 39 states that had not yet taken action to end the practice of keeping foster youth’s Social Security survivor benefits.
ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams previously told the Idaho Capital Sun that he’d first become aware that Idaho had done this when he became director of the state Department of Health and Welfare.
Adams in May issued a directive to the state agency to end the practice of using Social Security survivor benefits entitled to foster youth to pay for their basic care by July 2026. The memo directed staff to either use the funds to pay for unmet needs, not typically covered for other foster youth, or conserve them for the child’s future use.
This practice affected Idaho native Scott Matlock, a current NFL fullback for the Los Angeles Chargers and a former foster youth. Matlock entered Idaho’s child welfare system as a 13-year-old following the death of both of his parents, according to a press release from the Administration for Children and Families. He never received any of his parents’ survivor benefits.
“I commend President (Donald) Trump, Secretary (Robert F.) Kennedy (Jr.), and Assistant Secretary Adams for taking decisive action to encourage states to protect children and ensure foster youth have a strong financial foundation,” Matlock said in the release. “My hope is the next kid coming through foster care gets every penny he or she deserves, no matter what state they live in.”
Following Adams’ Senate nomination in October to his federal post, which resides in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he told the Sun in a November interview he planned to address the issue at the national level.
He said that many of the leaders in states where the practice was ongoing may not be aware of it.
A 2021 NPR and Marshall Project report found that 49 states and Washington, D.C., had engaged in this process at the time. National attorney and advocate Amy Harfeld told the Sun she’d been campaigning across the country to end the widespread practice. At the time, she said Adams’ move to end the practice in Idaho without outside intervention set him apart.
“Most states have not done this by themselves,” she said in a previous interview, “and so that really does distinguish (Adams) here, and it’s exciting that it distinguishes the state at this moment where he is going to have such a big stage and authority and capacity to make changes like this.”
To date, 11 states have enacted policies to prohibit taking children’s benefits, according to the ACF press release.
“ACF and the Social Security Administration plan to provide resources, in addition to existing technical assistance, to help the remaining 39 states change this practice,” the release said.
Adams in the emailed release, said, “Every earned benefit dollar belongs to these foster youth, not the government agencies or bureaucrats. Protecting children is the core mission of child welfare, and we will keep the best interests of the child front and center in all our efforts.”
This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.
