Woman who’s former foster child fighting for access to her birth records
Everybody calls her “Scarlet,” but a young Ellijay woman isn’t giving up a seemingly endless quest to obtain proof of identity under another name.
Scarlet Combs, 23, was born Cristin Albritton, but her last name was changed when she was a teenager, long before she took her current married name.
Combs said she spent her earliest years living between Ellijay and Blue Ridge, before being removed from her childhood home and placed in foster care, where she remained till her late teens.
“I was in DFCS most of my life and tossed from county to county. I’ve been in 18 homes and over 22 different schools,” she said.
Combs claims she suffered abuse from some of those foster parents, including those who adopted her at age 14. She said the adoptive foster mother legally changed her last name, but never provided her a Social Security card or any other documents showing that name.
Combs said, through court proceedings, she was eventually able to have the adoption annulled.
“I was able to prove I withstood a long record of abuse while in the state’s care. I left without a single paper to prove who I am,” she added. “When I was released from court, they said my name would be changed back. A few years ago, I found out my name was not changed back. That’s when my fight to get my papers to prove who I am started.”
Combs’ fight to get that documentation has been long and, thus far, fruitless. She previously had access to her original birth records and was able to get a standard ID from the DMV with those documents, which, she said, have since been destroyed.
“Normally, it wouldn’t be so hard to obtain a (copy of your) birth certificate or a Social Security card, but I don’t have anything but a scrap of paper showing I’m no longer in DFCS with that (changed) name on it. The name I was born under doesn’t exist anymore,” she said. “I have an ID in one name and my actual name is under another name, but I don’t have any (papers) to prove that.”
Combs said she’s been to the state Social Security office and in long talks with DeKalb County DFCS, where much of her foster care history is kept. Still, no luck.
“DeKalb County DFCS opened a case, but (ultimately) said we cannot help you,” she said.
As for Social Security, Combs said, they just don’t know the next step.
“They say let us make some calls, but I haven’t heard anything (back). To get your Social Security card, you must obtain two primary forms of ID, which could include a passport, high school ID or birth certificate. Because I don’t have the proper forms of ID, they can’t release any information to me,” she continued. “At the Social Security office, nobody knows who (I need) to talk to, and I’ve waited in the lobby for hours. I live all the way in Ellijay, so getting to the Social Security office with one income, two children and limited resources isn’t the (easiest) thing.”
With a lot of back and forth, but no movement toward the end goal of getting her papers, Combs said it’s felt like she’s been “screaming underwater” the last five years. Difficulty in reaching state offices during the pandemic only added more frustration.
“I’ve been unable to get the people I need to hear about this to hear about it and get any help,” she said. “I go to the apple, and the apple says you need a banana. I go to the banana, and it says you need an avocado. I go to the avocado, and it says you need an apple. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
The lack of documentation has caused plenty of challenges for the young mother of two. Without it, she can’t get a driver’s license, and employment opportunities have been greatly limited. She wants to finally obtain the documents not just for her own piece of mind, but so she can also make a better life for her two young children.
“I like to crochet, and I’ve taken side jobs, but I’m now a 23-year-old mother who’s unable to drive. I’m unable to find a job that will hire me and keep me,” she said. “I just want to be able to work x amount of hours, drive, pick my kids up and what everybody wants — just to live a normal life.”
Combs said she recently applied for legal aid in hopes that it will be of some help in reaching her goal. In the meantime, through social media, she’s learning that there are other people out there with similar problems and who are also unable to get an answer.
“I was able to reach out to a couple of people and (see that) there are more people like me who’ve just been abandoned by the system. They don’t have a single piece of identification. But those people didn’t fight. They gave up,” she said. “I just want to move on with my life, and I refuse to give up.”