Identity Theft Protection and Prevention for Foster Children

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

Victims of identity theft face numerous challenges and obstacles in restoring heir credit and good name. Foster children who are victims of identity theft and discover the problem after leaving the foster care system face challenges that can have a devastating impact on their lives. They may struggle to rent an apartment, obtain credit, or make major purchases and they lack the family support structure to help them resolve the identity theft issues. The county of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs and Department of children and Family Services partnered with the California Office of Privacy protection and the three major credit reporting agencies to resolve identity theft issues before foster children left the foster care system. Using information provided by the County, the credit reporting agencies to resolve identity theft issues before foster children left the foster care system. Using information provided by the County, the credit reporting agencies identified foster children that had negative items appearing on their credit reports and were possible victims of identity theft. Investigators from the State and County worked together to resolve these credit issues with creditors and debt collectors and eliminate any inaccurate negative credit information on the children’s records. Thanks to this program, these former foster youth will be able to start adulthood and independent living with a clean credit history.