In 2004, at the age of 14 and at his own desperate request, John G. became a ward of North Carolina.
His mother abandoned him for crack when he was 3, and his adoptive father died of cancer a year later. A succession of guardians beat him, made him sell drugs and refused to buy him toys.When he finally arrived at a county-financed group residence, he was wearing outgrown clothes. On the plus side, he was receiving Social Security survivor benefits and he held title to a modest house, willed to him by the adoptive father 10 years earlier and an asset that might give him traction, or at least a place to live, when he ''ages out'' of foster care at 18.
Now, the fate of the house -- and the insistence of Guilford County officials on taking all of John's Social Security benefits to help pay for his foster care -- are at the center of a legal battle with potential repercussions around the country.
The dispute is the latest in a continuing struggle between children's advocates and money-starved welfare agencies. They are wrestling over the proper use of more than $100 million in Social Security benefits that the states are taking on behalf of foster children with disabilities or a dead or disabled natural parent.
Details here from the New York Times via LexisONE.com.