Orphan Forced To The Brink Of Foreclosure On Inherited Home Fights Back As Child Protective Agency Pockets Juvenile's Monthly Death Benefit

In Guilford County, North Carolina, the Greensboro News Record describes the story of an:

• [u]nnamed orphan whose adoptive father died, leaving the child a small Habitat for Humanity house in east Greensboro — plus a $538 a month death benefit, more than enough to pay the $221 mortgage. Even so, [the orphan's] legal guardian — the DSS [Department of Social Services] — kept the full $538 to help defray his upkeep in foster care. That left the mortgage on the vacant home unpaid and on the brink of foreclosure.

Despite being hammered by the adverse rulings of a state trial judge, a state appeals court, and the North Carolina Supreme Court, the DSS has, according to the story, decided to continue its relentless pursuit of the kid's $538/month by filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to have the case heard.

For more, see DSS makes a federal case of an orphan's house.

In an earlier media report on this story, see The New York Times: Welfare Agencies Seek Foster Children's Assets.

To view the decision of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, see In re J.M.G., No. COA06-752 (November 6, 2007) (go here for .pdf version).