Ky.gov
Effective: 9/30/2015

4.65 Credit Reports for Youth in Foster Care

Legal Authority

Introduction

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Practice Guidance

  • During the case planning, tasks are added to the Independent Living Section of the case plan such as: 
    • Central office staff will request an annual credit check for youth at age fourteen (14) through seventeen (17) and provide the results to the FSOS who will disseminate the results to the appropriate SSW. 
    • The SSW will assist in requestin​g an annual credit check for youth at age eighteen (18) until the child is discharged from care. 
    • ​The SSW will share the results of the credit check with all youth, fourteen (14) and up and provide additional information about why a credit check is necessary, how to dispute and what to look for when reviewing a credit report. 
    • Additional information can be found on the Federal Trade Commission’s website. 
  • Central office staff works directly with the credit bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian, to request credit checks for youth ages fourteen (14) through and seventeen (17).


Procedure

For youth who are fourteen (14) and older

  1. Central office staff request a credit check annually for all youth who have attained fourteen (14) years of age and shares the results with the FSOS, who in turn, forwards them on to the appropriate SSW. 
  2. If no credit history is found, the SSW discusses the results with the youth and maintains a copy in youth’s case file, annually. 
  3. If issues are discovered with the youth’s credit history, the SSW assists the youth in resolving these issues by following guidelines on: 
    1. The Administration for Children and Families website; and 
    2. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website. 
  4. The SSW notifies the central office point person at (502) 564-2147, once issues are resolved.

For youth who are eighteen (18) and older

  1. The SSW assists all youth, eighteen (18) and older, in requesting and interpreting a credit check through AnnualCreditReport.com , until the youth exits care. 
  2. If no credit history is found, the SSW discusses the results with the youth and maintains a copy in youth’s case file, annually. 
  3. If issues are discovered with the youth’s credit history, the SSW assists the youth in resolving these issues by following guidelines on: 
    1. The Administration for Children and Families website; and 
    2. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau​ website. 
  4. The SSW reports the following information to central office, via e-mail (chaffeeilp@ky.gov) or by telephone: 
    1. Youth’s name; 
    2. Date of birth; 
    3. Social security number; 
    4. Date credit check was requested online; 
    5. Credit report outcomes; and 
    6. Date any issues were resolved (as applicable).​​

Documents

Revisions