In Episode 3 of Inside Story, our video series for people in prisons and jails, we look at how foster care agencies use federal funds intended for some of our nation’s most vulnerable children.

Host Lawrence Bartley speaks with Malerie Shockley, who spent years in the Alaska foster care system and discovered by chance that the state was collecting benefits owed to her — money that could have helped her pay for safe housing and other essentials. Bartley also hears from Marshall Project Managing Editor Geraldine Sealey, who explains how state agencies comb through their files to find children who are eligible for these benefits. And Professor Daniel Hatcher from the University of Baltimore Law School discusses how children aren’t being notified when their funds are taken and describes legislation intended to protect them.

Read the full article about foster care by Lawrence Bartley and Donald Washington, Jr. at The Marshall Project.