NCJ Number
242487
Date Published
2013
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Intended for use by anyone who is responsible for mentoring, supporting, or working with youth or young adults in foster care, this guide suggests five steps adults can take in assisting these youth to understand credit and identity theft.
Abstract
The first step is to instruct foster-care youth in the nature and significance of their credit history and related issues as they set financial goals. The second step is to educate them about the importance of their credit histories and the threat of identity theft and other forms of fraud. The third step in this guide is to assist foster-care youth in determining how their State of residence is implementing the Federal credit check requirement. This mandates that child welfare agencies order credit reports for all youth in foster care ages 16 and older. The fourth step is to assist the youth in understanding ways to correct credit inaccuracies in the event of identity theft. Readers are referred to resources that could guide them if the specific credit issues are too complex for them to handle. The fifth step is to help foster-care youth build credit as the first step toward their financial independence.