The Philip DeFranco Show - 7.30 Rich Parents Financial Aid SCAM Exposed, Social Media Ban, & Brazil's Horrifying Problem

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Tuesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. The first thing we're going to talk about today is another college scandal. So according to ProPublica and the Wall Street Journal, there are wealthy families in the state of Illinois that are transferring the guardianship of their child at some point during their junior or senior year of high school to a family friend or a family member so that when the student applies for financial aid and scholarships for college, they can identify themselves as financially independent

Starting point is 00:00:25 from their families and thus get more financial aid. And here's kind of an example that was provided to show how it works. In one case, a family in the Chicago area transferred the guardianship of their 17-year-old daughter to one of their mother's coworkers. That initial family had a household income higher than $250,000 and lived in a house

Starting point is 00:00:38 valued at more than $1 million. But after their daughter's guardianship was transferred, the only income she had to claim was a little over $4,000 from a summer job. And she ended up going to a private school with a tuition of $65,000 and got $27,000 in merit scholarships and 20,000 in need-based aid.

Starting point is 00:00:54 Now as far as the process of transferring the guardianship, the family told the journal that it was actually pretty easy and mainly just paperwork. The coworker had to attend one court hearing. The daughter didn't even have to go and neither did her parents. And at this point you may have the question of, well, is this legal?

Starting point is 00:01:06 And well, the answer is actually yes. Now that said, according to reports, several schools in Illinois are starting to take a closer look at the situation, with Andrew Bourse, the director of undergraduate enrollment at the University of Illinois saying, "'Our financial aid resources are limited "'in the practice of wealthy parents transferring

Starting point is 00:01:19 "'the guardianship of their children to qualify "'for need-based financial aid, "'or so-called opportunity hoarding, "'takes away resources from middle and low-income students. This is legal, but we question the ethics. Now as far as how widespread this is, that's not known right now, but the journal did look at court documents

Starting point is 00:01:33 and found 38 cases where juniors or seniors in high school had their guardianship transferred, with many of those families living in homes valued over half a million dollars. Also, as far as the specifics of the process, in Illinois, even if a parent can provide care to a child, a court can still transfer guardianship, so long as the parent's relinquished care,

Starting point is 00:01:48 the child and the new guardian consent, and a court finds that it is in the child's best interest. And regarding that last note, in most of the 38 cases, the language used to justify why it was in the child's best interest usually resembled, the guardian can provide educational and financial support and opportunities to the minor that her parents could not otherwise provide.

Starting point is 00:02:04 Also regarding the moral question, right? Is this okay? Is it not? ProPublica spoke to someone who actually became a child's legal guardian for this reason. And he said that he wrestled with the ethics of the matter because his wife works at a college. So he saw the situation from both sides.

Starting point is 00:02:17 Adding they were afraid that by doing this, they could take aid away from another family, even though he was told that this would not be the case. Saying quote, it's one of these gray areas and my heart wanted me to do it for the family, but I also have a conscience. I wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing. And as far as how all these families managed to do this,

Starting point is 00:02:31 both the Journal and ProPublica say that many families followed a path created by a consulting firm called Destination College. The group is based in Chicago and says it works to make college more affordable for families and their children with their website saying, our team of tax, financial, and academic planning experts specializes in creating a customized guide,

Starting point is 00:02:47 making sure the students are matched to the major and school of their interests, and the parents can comfortably afford it. Also claiming to save students an average of $30,000 a year. And granted, nowhere on the site does it directly suggest that families transfer the guardianship of their child, but they also do have services listed

Starting point is 00:03:01 that could be hinting at the practice. They offer three different packages, basic, preferred, and premier. And one of the features in the premier package is quote, "'College Financial Plan,' using income and asset shifting strategies to increase your financial and merit aid and lower out-of-pocket tuition expenses."

Starting point is 00:03:15 As far as the other side of this, Laura Georgieva, the founder of Destination College, has declined commenting on these recent reports thus far. But you know, as of right now, that is ultimately where we are with this story. Like I said, it is technically legal. The education department is looking into it. Some have also recommended changing the language

Starting point is 00:03:29 in the federal student aid handbook to something that would prevent this. Something like adding a note that says, "'If a student enters into a legal guardianship "'but continues to receive medical and financial support "'from their parents, they do not meet the definition "'of a legal guardianship and are still considered "'a dependent student.'"

Starting point is 00:03:43 And as far as my opinion on this situation, I 95% hate it. If you come from a wealthy family that is going to pay for your college, the fact that they would jump through these ridiculous hoops to make sure that you get need-based money rather than someone that actually genuinely needs it, that is despicable. But also, there is that little voice in my head that says, well what about the person that's having to put themselves through college? Or maybe the mom or dad or whoever in the relationship that brings home money,

Starting point is 00:04:08 they bring home a decent amount of money, but they aren't contributing to their child's tuition. And so that student who's trying to go it alone is being penalized because their parents who aren't contributing made money. That said, that situation is not applicable to the $65,000 a year tuition example that was provided. Right, in that example, not only did you have someone

Starting point is 00:04:25 from a well-off family going to an out-of-state college where they got a merit-based scholarship, tons of need-based aid, the rest of the money that wasn't covered was paid for by the grandparents. So it's not like they don't have money. But you know, that's why I'm mainly of one mind on this, but there are, I feel like, people

Starting point is 00:04:40 that are gonna slip through the cracks. That said, I find this story fascinating. I'm also incredibly interested to know your thoughts on this. You feel like changing the language in the federal student cracks. That said, I find this story fascinating. I'm also incredibly interested to know your thoughts on this. If you feel like changing the language in the federal student aid handbook to what we talked about earlier, that would do it. Also, do you think that this should be illegal,

Starting point is 00:04:51 that it is a type of fraud? Any and all thoughts, I'd love to see in those comments down below. And then, let's talk about the senator who wants to change how you consume media. And specifically, I'm talking about Republican senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley. He has announced legislation called the SMART Act, which stands for the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act.

Starting point is 00:05:09 And it would reportedly look to ban things like Snapstreaks, YouTube autoplay, endless scrolling, right, along with anything that's meant to incentivize continued use of a product. That said, reportedly, there would be some exceptions. Things like music playlists or things that are primarily used to stream music. We saw Hawley say in a statement, "'Big Tech' has embraced a business model of addiction. Too much of the quote innovation in this space is designed not to create better products, but to capture more attention by using psychological tricks

Starting point is 00:05:35 that make it difficult to look away. This legislation will put an end to that and encourage true innovation by tech companies." Also, I was intrigued by this act, so I actually dove into the legislation. And it actually appears to be even more heavy-handed than what was being reported. According to this, in addition to allowing a user

Starting point is 00:05:50 to set time limits as far as their use of applications, this legislation would require that the social media company automatically limits the amount of time that a user may spend on those platforms across all devices to 30 minutes a day. And so that would be the default, unless the user then elects to adjust or remove the time limit.

Starting point is 00:06:07 And if the user elects to increase or remove the time limit, it resets the time limit to 30 minutes a day on the first day of every month. And so as far as my reaction to the SPART Act is, it seems like anything but. It is the stance here that Americans are not responsible enough to be able to dictate how they use their time. We already have social media companies

Starting point is 00:06:24 kind of giving us the tools. Apple introduced screen time, YouTube's introduced features that remind you to stop watching videos. Right, and I say that as someone, if you've watched me over kind of the past four months, I have a very rocky relationship when it comes to social media.

Starting point is 00:06:36 But even there, I have personally, because I'm a grown ass person, changed my habits. For example, I try not to use Twitter on my phone and mainly use it on the desktop because the phone app feels way more addictive. And there's just something about the pull down on the phone where all of a sudden, boom, you get all this new information.

Starting point is 00:06:51 And in general, the smart act to me seems, it's weird because it appears to be kind of two completely opposite things, but at the same time. The government injecting itself into my life and setting restrictions for some reason, but also at the same time doing so in a way that is easily sidestepped probably has very little actual impact and mainly just gets to be a thing

Starting point is 00:07:10 where it's like, hey, look, we tried, we did a thing. It's called the SMART Act, that's what I am. But hey, that's a story, a little bit of my personal takeaway on it, and I'd love to know your thoughts on this one in those comments down below. And then let's talk about this just horrifying situation out of Brazil.

Starting point is 00:07:23 So yesterday, a prison riot broke out in the state of Pará, killing at least 57 people. The riots reportedly started when members of one gang invaded the prison block another rival gang occupied. Gang members then started a fire which spread rapidly and prevented police from entering the building for several hours. And once the riot stopped and the damage was assessed, according to reports, a majority of those who died died from smoke inhalation. But authorities also reported that 16 people died from decapitation. Also reportedly, two prison guards had been held hostage during the riots, but it's been reported

Starting point is 00:07:51 that they were later released on harm. Now in terms of why the riots started, the state prison's chief said in a statement, "'It was a targeted attack. "'The aim was to show that it was a settling of accounts "'between the two groups, not a protest or rebellion "'against the prison system.'" And that statement isn't wrong,

Starting point is 00:08:03 but it's also a little more complicated than that. Right, at the surface level, it is true that the riots were caused by rival gangs. Over the last few years, Brazil's largest gangs have expanded and spread across the country as they develop lucrative drug routes and form alliances with smaller gangs.

Starting point is 00:08:15 That has also led to more violence between gangs, and those clashes do not stop when gang members or even the drug kingpins are put in jail. In fact, according to reports, many of the gangs actually consider prisons to be a sort of command center or home base. Now Brazil's government has long moved gang leaders to prisons that are far away from their homes

Starting point is 00:08:29 with the hope that it will weaken their criminal networks, but that seems to have actually completely backfired because it basically just allows the gang to create a broader national reach. Once in jail, gang leaders are smuggled cell phones to continue to run their criminal organizations, sometimes across multiple states. And these gang members end up being so incredibly powerful

Starting point is 00:08:43 in Brazilian prisons that they end up kind of being recruitment centers. Right, other inmates are often forced to join gangs to survive. So yes, it is true that it is the rivalries between the gangs that prompted yesterday's riot, but this kind of mass violence isn't necessarily inevitable. In fact, it's exacerbated by more structural issues like overcrowding and lack of funding.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Brazil's prison population has grown in recent years, but the funding and investment hasn't matched that growth. And in fact, according to reports, Brazil's prison population in just in recent years, but the funding and investment hasn't matched that growth. And in fact, according to reports, Brazil's prison population in just the last 10 years alone, going from about 500,000 to 800,000, making it the third largest inmate population in the world after the United States and China. Right, so obviously overcrowding is an issue.

Starting point is 00:09:17 In fact, the National Justice Council said in a report that the prison where Monday's riot took place, it was built for 163 detainees, but holds 343. That report also described the conditions inside the prison as terrible. But on the other side of this, the prison chief said it is not overcrowded, saying in a press conference, quote,

Starting point is 00:09:32 "'We consider overcrowding when it exceeds 210%.'" Right, okay, but some of these facilities are reportedly so overcrowded that inmates are forced to sleep standing up and their hands are tied to bars so that they stay upright. And also because of the lack of funding, that means that the prisons are short staffed. And so you have these experts saying

Starting point is 00:09:47 that the combination of overcrowding and a lack of funding has a direct connection to increase gang violence in the prison. Experts also believe that this kind of violence will not only continue, but it's going to get worse. And you know, this is something that we're already seeing happen. This isn't the only riot that has caused mass fatalities

Starting point is 00:10:00 in just the last few months. Back in May, we saw 55 people killed in riots that broke out in four separate prisons, all in the same state of Amazonas. Again, those riots stemmed from power struggles between gangs. Also in early 2017, more than 120 inmates died when rival gangs fought over control

Starting point is 00:10:15 of drug trafficking routes. And with that one specifically, violence lasted several weeks and spanned multiple states. And so as far as, okay, well, what are the politicians and the government doing? Well, you know, we have President Jair Bolsonaro there, who was elected last year on the promise that he would crack down on crime.

Starting point is 00:10:27 In the past, he said things like he planned to stuff prison cells with criminals. Right, so just on the service level, it seems like that's just going to make your overcrowding situation worse, which actually regarding overcrowding, it's also complicated by the fact that many of Brazil's prisons are run at the state level.

Starting point is 00:10:39 And while Bolsonaro's administration has called for states to build more prisons, the lack of funding makes that unlikely. And even the prisons that have been built recently aren't enough. According to reports, space for over 8,650 inmates has been built since 2018, but the amount of new inmates has risen by more than 17,800 during that same time.

Starting point is 00:10:55 Others have also proposed sending gang kingpins to federal prisons, but experts have argued that the violence is a product of an inherently flawed system. And in general, it also appears that there's not really any political will to fix the broken system. In fact, one congressman in Brazil, who's recently elected on the promise to curb violent crime,

Starting point is 00:11:10 responded to yesterday's violence by saying, "'In these fights between criminal factions, "'I root for the machete. "'The truth is, no one is going to miss them. "'They won't commit crimes again.'" You know, ultimately, that's where we are, and whenever you have a situation like this, right, it can go one of two ways.

Starting point is 00:11:23 One, a light exposes a horrible situation and reforms are made or you just see it more and more and you become apathetic to it which i mean when you're talking about people in prison specifically people being referred to as gang members in general i think a lot of people are going to be less sympathetic even though they are also human beings but also on that note according to human rights watch nationwide 40 of the people in detention are just awaiting trial according According to one expert who spoke with the New York Times, quote, unfortunately most Brazilians will shrug off this latest outbreak of violence, numb as they are to the ritual of bloodletting in the country's prisons.

Starting point is 00:11:52 But of course, with all of that said, like with everything on this show, I would love to know your thoughts on this one in those comments down below. And that's where we're going to end today's show. And of course, remember, I love to hear from you on any and all of the topics in those comments down below, but also there's a new way you can interact

Starting point is 00:12:04 by using the poll, clicking that little I button right there. We've been putting four poll questions into each show. It's been very interesting to see people actually using it. Also, hey, while you're clicking around, if you liked today's video, I'd love if you took a second to hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, be sure to hit that subscribe button,

Starting point is 00:12:17 click that bell to turn on notifications. That way you don't miss these daily weekday dives into the news, which on that note, if you missed yesterday's Philip DeFranco show, or wanna check out our extra bonus news video today, we did a deep dive on Shen Yun, you can click or tap right there to watch either of those. But with that said, of course, as always,

Starting point is 00:12:32 my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in, I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - 7.30 Rich Parents Financial Aid SCAM Exposed, Social Media Ban, & Brazil's Horrifying Problem

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