Continued from Part 1

Even if the state placed half of a child’s SSI benefits in a saving account, it could be given to them when they age out of the system or when they turn 18 years old. A girl mentioned in the article had been receiving $607 a month that the system used for her care. This child was in care at the age of 7 years old, off and on until she aged out of the system. If this child received foster care for 8 years of her life (allowing three years for the time the system sent her home), the amount of assets that this child received was $58,272 in SSI benefits. Would it have been unfair for the system to place $29,136 (which is half of her benefits) in a saving account for her to start a life when she aged out of the system? The state would still be receiving money to help with the expenses of the foster child’s care.

With guidance and a savings account, these foster children could actually be able to start a life and have a future.

Don’t we owe this much to these children? It is heartbreaking to think that a foster child’s SSI benefits ends up in the state general fund and possibly being used to fix the roads we drive on, something that benefits us (society that can provide for ourselves), not the foster children who are dropped by the system and end up unable to provide for themselves. The most unimaginable thing is the foster child’s money being used for the prison system where, most likely, a large number of them end up because of a system that chose not to provide guidance and support to these kids aging out of the system.


“One of the greatest moments in anybody's developing experience is when he no longer tries to hide from himself but determines to get acquainted with himself as he really is.”
Norman Vincent Peale