New law aims to curb identity theft of foster children

A new federal law includes a provisions aimed at helping to protect foster children from identity theft. Specifically, the rule would require states to perform credit checks on older foster children and work to resolve cases of identity theft so they are not exposed to someone else's debt or riddled with poor credit. The law is in response to a growing trend of foster children falling victim to identity theft. According to The Associated Press, foster children face higher rates of ID theft than other children or even adults. U.S. Representative Jim Langevin of Rhode Island was a cosponsor of the new legislation and has called on officials to perform credit checks on foster children to ensure their social security numbers have not been exploited by others. "They already face tremendous obstacles without the increased threat of having their identities stolen," Langevin told The AP. "There are a number of other things we have to do to fully protect our kids. The work is not done."