<p>First time posting and just needs your thoughts. I have a relative that has claimed as an independent on their fafsa form and was awarded substantial money. </p>
<p>History - child’s parents moved when they were a junior in high school and they chose to stay with friends for 2 years so they could graduate from same school with friends. During this time the school counselor believed the child had been abandoned by parents. This was not true. The child would return home regularly…weekends, holidays, summer etc. Parents provided financially for the child still and claimed them on taxes as dependent.</p>
<p>So counselor told child to claim as independent and provided confirmation from the school. I advised child not to do this but they did so anyway. As they are 18 I presume they would be responsible if the govt found out that they had claimed this money illegally? Concerned and not sure what to do. Have tried speaking to parents but they are not interested, just pleased they do not have to finance their child’s education. Both parents work.</p>
<p>Looking for some advice. What should I do or could I do? If child is not awarded this money chances are they may not be able to afford school.</p>
<p>I have kept this email vague as I believe the child may frequent these boards.</p>
<p>It really comes down to a moral dilemma. You have told both the student and the parents that what they did is wrong. So you did the right thing there. It will be on them if they get caught. </p>
<p>I don’t think you are legally obligated to report them - so it is really a matter of if YOU feel you HAVE to report them. Only you can make that decision.</p>
<p>It’s simple - if the fraud is discovered, the student will lose all financial aid and potentially be subject to criminal charges for fraud. (I would also guess the student might thereafter be permanently ineligible for federal aid.) He or she would likely also be expelled from school. All of these consequences fall on the student, not the parents.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you are in a position to communicate directly with the student, rather than the parents, but I’d make every effort to explain this to both of them. Both student and parents need to understand the risk the student is facing if caught.</p>
<p>Along with everything dodgermom said, keep in mind that just because the student is considered independent for federal purposes, he most likely will not be independent when it comes to state aid or even institutional aid (which is where most of the money for college is going to come from). </p>
<p>Even is student gets by with this ruse, it is only going to be a matter to time until this whole things falls apart. Parents and student should be reminded that student must apply for financial aid each year</p>
<p>If the school counselor believed that the student was abandoned by the parents, at any time when the child was 17, did they contact ACS. As a mandated reporter, counselor was obligated to contact ACS to inform them that student was abandoned by parents. Did counselor report the student as being a student in temporary housing or at risk of being homeless because they did not have a fixed residence.</p>
<p>Student will have to get a non-filers statement from the IRS that he was not required to file taxes. </p>
<p>In addition, the school will also request a low income verification because they are going to want to know how student eats every day. Any monies paid on students behalf must also be reported on the FAFSA.</p>
Why did the school counselor believe the child had been abandoned? Who told them that? Also, what kind of “confirmation” was the school able to provide to prove the supposed independence? And how could this “word of mouth” supposed “proof” possibly be enough?</p>
<p>I am thinking along the lines of CTTC. This is all very weird. Typically high school guidance counselors will provide only basic information to students on how to apply for financial aid. Where to find the FAFSA and so forth. They do not ever (at least at our public school) get involved in the actual financial aid application on a student’s behalf. What an odd first post.</p>
<p>I don’t know anymore than what I was told but apparently the child was classified as homeless under the Vento act. I don’t know what the counselor was told but I am sure it wasn’t the truth. The parents wanted the child to stay at the school and did/said whatever was necessary to make this happen.</p>
<p>I have spoken to the child previously about this and made them aware of the dangers but now neither the parents or the child are returning my calls. I just hate that the child may get themselves into serious trouble and the parents are allowing this. </p>
<p>I guess I will have to sit back and hope that they don’t get caught.</p>
<p>It looks like the parents are entirely comfortable scamming the system - they already did this in order to keep the student in an out-of-district school for two years. Ordinarily, they’d have had to pay tuition to keep the student in that school after they moved away.</p>
<p>What I’m guessing the student doesn’t understand is that, this time, liability for the fraud falls fully on him (or her). It is the student who is declaring him/herself independent, and it is the student, not the parents, who will face any consequences for this fraud.</p>
<p>The parents can do whatever they want . . . it’s the kid who will suffer the consequences.</p>
<p>P.S. One thing you could do is contact the high school guidance counselor and point out the error now (if they’d even listen to you), while there’s still time to correct it. The consequences wouldn’t be nearly so bad now as later.</p>
<p>You may not know the particulars of the case, and none of those directly involved may want to share the info with you. Sometimes there are a lot things happening that are not shared with others. For example, I know one family where there were abuse accusations levied, but kept quiet except on a need to know basis.</p>
<p>Also, unfortunately, some people do scam the system. A family might just put a kid in a homeless shelter so that he can be so classified and be permitted to stay in a school district even when the parents move. There is no line that some people won’t cross to beat the system and get around the rules. And then once that is done, having been in a homeless shelter, the student can be classified as Independent. It can even be done legitimately if someone want so go to such extremes. We depend on societal taboos to keep certain rules on the books, and if people don’t care about them, then, yes, they can get over.</p>
<p>But to assume without knowing that all of this is a scam, is really jumping to quickly to conclusions. It’s up to the school counselor to make these determinations, and if a family truly has abuse reports, abandonment reports, they are going to err on the side of safety for the child.</p>
<p>Cpt I agree. Some people may hide problems, out of embarrassment or whatever. I had one friend who didn’t want to tell his kids he lost his job. Got dressed in a suit and left the house every day. One of my DDs friends was embarrassed to tell people her mom was in rough shape, she told the other kids she was going to her moms every weekends, and it was really her grandma. I would never pretend I knew what was going on in someone else’s life.</p>
<p>I wish I didn’t know what was happening but I do. This is a blood relative. No ambiguous circumstances. I do not want to get involved but the fall out, if it comes to light, will be hard for my elderly parents to bear. I thought of contacting the counselor but 1. would they even talk to me and 2. what if the school board charges for the 2 years of free education. I do not want to make this situation worse. However, this is fraud and there are going to be serious consequences if it comes to light but what are the chances of that. Maybe keep quiet and pray for the best.</p>
<ol>
<li>No, the counselor would not talk to you, but he or she might listen to you.</li>
<li>So what if the school board charges them? It’s a little late now, and it’s unlikely they’d want to incur the expense of taking the family to court.</li>
</ol>
<p>Chances are this is all going to fall apart the next time the kid files a FAFSA. He or she is required to declare (as income) any bills that someone else has paid on his or her behalf. And, at that point, it may come out that the student isn’t actually independent. But, if the student can honestly say, “But my high school guidance counselor TOLD me to file this way!” and the college has the letter from the guidance counselor to back it up, I’d guess there’s a chance they’d write it off as an honest mistake. There’d still be the issue of how to pay for the next three years of college . . . but that’s not as bad as getting kicked out of school or charged with criminal fraud.</p>
<p>It would be the city’s department of education that would sue for the recovery of fees (not the school board). </p>
<p>The school would refer the case to the legal department. In NYC, non-resident enrollment fee is almost 30k/year. IF the GC did do this s/he could be subject to an investigation that would lead to her termination.</p>
<p>I agree with dodgersmom, that this is going to fall apart very soon. While your relative may have a financial aid package, until s/he goes through the verification process, there will not be any actual money disbursed until the verification process is complete. There will be more questions, documentation coming. Is your relative willing to implicate him/herself by lying to another agency, which is a possibility. </p>
<p>OP’s relative is going to have to prove that s/he has adequate health insurance or purchase the school’s health insurance, which is quite expensive an not covered by the financial aid. If OP has exhausted his/her loans, how is this going to happen?</p>