The Marshall Project in partnership with NPR
Foster Care Agencies Take Millions of Dollars Owed to Kids. Most Children Have No Idea.
This coverage revealed and explained in clear language a shocking but legal practice taking place across the United States: the diversion of up to $165 million a year in federal payments from foster children, often without their knowledge. The stories sparked instant reactions from state and federal politicians that could lead to needed change. In addition to revealing this little known side of foster care funding, the series offered step-by-step guidance to foster children on how to retrieve the Social Security payments they may be owed. And the series offered policy prescriptions for how states and counties could build a more humane system, one that provides financial support for the children who often end up poor — even homeless — when they age out of foster care.
Honorable Mentions:
- Grist – Points of No Return
- Center for Public Integrity in partnership with Vox – “System Failure“