Michigan Gives More Power to Steal from Foster Kids

So many questions.  So little time left in this Legislative session.

Here you have an honorable Michigan House Bill which, I guess, is an attempt to address foster children being victims of identity theft.

Great, but the real issue is:

Caseworkers guarding SS#'s of foster children

Q:   "Who has access to foster children's Social Security Numbers?"

A:   Caseworkers.

Allow me to clear the air before further examination.

This Bill gives the power and authority to Caseworkers to do annual credit checks on a child's credit history.

Mind you, the Bill has no referral mechanism to the Office of Attorney General to investigate how the foster child's information was breached nor is there any mandate to prosecute.

No training requirements specified for the caseworkers or child placing agencies have been even slightly mentioned.

Identity theft is a federal crime.  Considering the fact that foster care is a federally funded program, one would think there would be some form of collaboration with federal authorities to, at least, intervene and assist in the prosecution, and in certain circumstances, recovery.

There is not even a whisper about generating an exclusionary database to revoke licenses, sanctions, prosecution or recovery, for individuals who engage in fraud against these foster youth.

So now, within this Bill, there will be annual credit reports, which will be billed to some unidentified funding source, which more than likely be Medicaid, to generate stock piles of more documentation to be lost in the paperwork shuffle of a foster care case, with multiple individuals having undocumented access to the files,

There is no mention of Michigan Children's Institute and its role as the sole, legal guardian for more than 3,000 in its care.

So why is it that there was the need to even introduce a Bill such as this?  Is foster care identity theft that rampant where there is such a need for intervention?

If child welfare was not such a secret operation, there could be much more collaboration and reduction in numbers of children who are in state care.

Foster care Social Security Numbers can be used in more ways than with credit to commit fraud.

Watch this video to find out Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare and why Michigan is letting the  "fox guard the hen house":

Michigan Foster Child Credit Check

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