DENVER (CBS4) – On July 1, several new laws will go into effect in Colorado including a bill that calls for more protection for children in foster care against identity theft. This new law makes Colorado one of the few states taking a proactive approach to the growing national problem of identity theft among wards of the state.

When a child’s identity is stolen it’s usually a family member who’s the culprit. Children in the foster care system go from home to home and in some cases dozens of people have access to their personal information including their social security number. Foster care children are three times more likely to get their identities stolen then other children.

Dominic McGee was one of those children. McGee is 21-years-old now and living on his own. But when he was in the foster care system someone tried to take out a mortgage with his social security number.

“This was in 2005, which would have made me 15,” he tells CBS4.

His credit is ruined. He can’t qualify for housing, he can’t buy a car, and this could even affect his ability to get a job. He calls this the “icing on the cake” of abuse he’s endured.

“It’s reliving every single trauma within the foster care system or with my home life biologically again,” McGee said.

“I was shocked that there was nothing to protect the kids from this,” said Colorado Senator Linda Newell, District 26.

Newell sponsored Senate Bill 120, Protections for Youth in Foster Care, which will become law on July 1st. One section of the bill address identity theft. It directs the Colorado Department of Human Services to check each child’s credit record while they’re still in foster care.

“The Department is responsible for making sure they walk out with a clean record,” Newell told CBS4.

The new law won’t help McGee. He faces a tough road to clean up his credit.

“I’ve thought about declaring bankruptcy, but I don’t want to do that because that’s going to be on my credit for the next seven years,” McGee said.

What the new law requires is exactly what every parent should do for their child. You need to periodically pull credit reports on your children to make sure they’re clean and that no one is getting rich on your child’s social security number.