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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1117 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 227
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Tricia Farley-Bouvier
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act protecting benefits owed to foster children.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Tricia Farley-Bouvier2nd Berkshire1/14/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/16/2025Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester1/26/2025David F. DeCoste5th Plymouth1/22/2025Colleen M. Garry36th Middlesex1/25/2025Sally P. Kerans13th Essex2/13/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/10/2025 1 of 7
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1117 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 227
By Representative Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 227)
of Tricia Farley-Bouvier and others relative to protecting benefits owed to foster children.
Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 4704 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act protecting benefits owed to foster children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 21 of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Appropriate Services”
3the following definition:-
4 “Benefits”, benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, also referred to as
5“Supplemental Security Income” or “SSI”; benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, also
6referred to as “Retirement, Survivors or Disability Insurance Benefits” or “RSDI”; or other
7federal benefits.
8 SECTION 2. Section 21 of chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by
9inserting after the definition of “Relative” the following definition:- 2 of 7
10 “Representative Payee or Fiduciary”, any person or entity designated to receive benefits
11for a minor child under the agency rules governing such benefits.
12 SECTION 3. Section 23 of chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting
13after subsection (i) the following subsection:-
14 (j) The department shall comply with section 23D, by providing benefit management
15services to children and young adults in the department’s care, custody, or responsibility,
16including eligibility screening, representative payee or fiduciary assistance, notice, benefits
17accounting, conservation of benefits and other services relative to benefits.
18 SECTION 4. Chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
19section 23C the following section:-
20 Section 23D. (a) When a child is placed in foster care under a voluntary placement
21agreement or court-ordered custody, the department shall make all reasonable efforts to identify
22within 60 days of the child being committed to custody of the department whether the child is
23already receiving or may be eligible to receive benefits. In reviewing eligibility, the department
24shall consult with the parents and others who may have information about the child’s eligibility.
25If the department determines, or has cause to believe, that the child may be eligible for benefits,
26it shall apply for benefits on the child’s behalf. If the agency administering such benefits denies
27the application, the department may appeal the decision. The department shall review cases of
28children in foster care annually to determine whether the child may have become eligible for
29benefits after the initial assessment. DCF will only seek federal foster care reimbursement for a
30child if such reimbursement will not impact the child’s eligibility for benefits or the amount of
31benefits. 3 of 7
32 (b) If the child is already receiving benefits prior to entering department custody, the
33department may apply to be the child’s representative payee or fiduciary. If the department is
34applying for benefits for the child, the department may also apply to be the representative payee
35or fiduciary. Where the goal is reunification, the department shall consider whether applying to
36become the child’s representative payee or fiduciary will undermine the goal of reunification and
37be contrary to the child’s best interests.
38 (c) The department shall provide timely notice for each of the following events:
39 (i) The department submits an application for benefits;
40 (ii) The department submits a request to become the child’s representative payee;
41 (iii) the department receives notice of the agency’s decision regarding benefits including
42denial, termination or reduction in benefits;
43 (iv) the department decides whether or not to appeal an adverse determination, including
44the outcome of any appeal filed; and
45 (v) the department receives notice of an eligibility redetermination.
46 Notice shall be provided to counsel for the child, as well as counsel for the parent or
47parents or legal guardian or guardians, except that no notice shall be provided to a parent for
48whom a decree to dispense with consent to adoption has been entered under paragraph 4 of
49section 26 of chapter 119.
50 The notice provisions of this section 23D of chapter 119 of the General Laws shall go
51into effect 18 months after the enactment of this act. Until the effective implementation date, the 4 of 7
52department shall make best efforts to ensure compliance with the notice requirements of section
5323D of chapter 119 of the General Laws.
54 (d) When the department is the child’s representative payee or fiduciary, it shall maintain
55an accounting of the child’s benefits, and shall make available to child’s counsel current
56accounting information electronically or by other means. The accounting information shall
57include (1) the amount and source of benefits collected by the department and credited to any
58account maintained on behalf of the child; (2) the balance of any account maintained on behalf of
59the child; (3) any amounts deducted by the department and the reasons for the deductions; and
60(4) information regarding all the child’s assets and resources, including benefits, insurance, cash
61assets, trust accounts, and earnings if such assets or resources are controlled by the department.
62The department shall provide such accounting information to the court at permanency hearings,
63at other court proceedings, as necessary, or upon request.
64 (e) If the department is the child’s representative payee or fiduciary, the Department shall
65not use such benefits to reimburse the Commonwealth for the child’s placement in foster care. If
66the child is receiving SSI benefits, the department shall ensure that any funds retained on the
67child’s behalf are kept in a manner that does not exceed any federal asset or resource limit that
68would affect the child’s eligibility to continue receiving SSI benefits. Benefits held by the
69department as a representative payee or fiduciary may be spent on the child’s unmet needs,
70which would not ordinarily be funded by another source, subject to program rules for the use of
71such benefits, or otherwise conserved for the child. Any funds administered for SSI recipients
72above the federal asset or resource limits shall be conserved in an Achieving a Better Life
73Experience (ABLE) account, authorized by Section 529A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
74or another account for the child determined not to interfere with federal asset or resource limits 5 of 7
75for any other federal means-tested benefit program. If the child is not receiving SSI or other
76federal means-tested benefits with an asset or resource limit, the department shall place excess
77funds in an interest-bearing account or other savings or investment vehicle for the benefit of the
78child. If the department is the child’s representative payee or fiduciary and receives retroactive
79benefits for the child, those funds shall be kept as required by the program rules of the agency
80administering such benefits.
81 (f) The department shall take steps to conserve the benefits of children receiving benefits
82under this paragraph to assist them in the transition to adulthood and living independently. The
83department shall establish accounts as specified in subsection (e) in conserving a child’s benefits.
84The department shall work actively with the agency administering such benefits and the child to
85ensure that when the child leaves foster care, becomes eligible for direct payment, or another
86representative payee is identified, all payments of benefits or conserved funds shall be (1)
87returned to the agency following program rules; or (2) upon agreement by the agency, if
88necessary, transferred to the child or to a new representative payee or fiduciary.
89 (g) The department shall provide the child with ongoing financial information regarding
90the eligibility for benefits, as well as the existence, amount, availability, use, and limitations of
91funds conserved for the child, beginning at 14 years of age and tailored to the individual child.
92For youth ages 17 of age or older, financial information shall also include basic assistance with
93understanding budgeting and money management, checking and savings accounts, tailored to the
94individual child.
95 (h) The department shall provide the child with ongoing financial literacy training and
96support, beginning at 14 years of age and tailored to the individual child. This program may 6 of 7
97include, but need not be limited to, topics such as: budgeting; money management; informed
98decision-making; banking, checking and savings accounts; credit card counseling; managing
99debt; planning for financial security and stability; financing post-secondary education or training;
100long term asset-building; and community and agency services. Financial literacy resources
101concerning the use of conserved funds shall also be made available to all parents, guardians, and
102adoptive parents gaining access to funds conserved by the department. The financial literacy
103requirements set forth in M.G.L. c. 119, Sec 23D(h) shall go into effect 18 months after the
104enactment of this act. Until the effective implementation date, the department shall make best
105efforts to ensure compliance with the financial literacy requirements set forth in this paragraph.
106 (i) The department shall provide an annual report to the house and senate committees on
107ways and means, the committee on children, families and persons with disabilities, the clerks of
108the house and the senate and the secretary of the executive office of administration and finance,
109not later than December 31; provided, the report shall set forth: (1) the numbers of children in the
110department’s care and custody receiving benefits for which the department is the representative
111payee or fiduciary; (2) the numbers of children in the department’s care or custody who are
112receiving SSI, RSDI or other federal benefits; (3) the amount of benefits being conserved by the
113department; and (4) the number and type of accounts established by the department on behalf of
114such children.
115 (j) To the extent such data is available, the report shall also set forth the numbers of
116children in the department’s care or custody, (1) who were screened for eligibility for benefits;
117and whether such screening occurred within 60 days of being committed to the department’s
118custody, and if not, the date of the screening and reasons for the delay; (2) who were already
119receiving benefits after screening; and (3) for whom the department submitted applications for 7 of 7
120benefits, by type of application, and the outcome of those applications, including the number of
121appeals filed; providing however, that if such data is not available, the department shall provide
122information to such committees as to its ongoing efforts to be able to gather and report upon such
123information.
124 (k) In administering the benefits of young adults ages 18 to 22 for whom the department
125is acting as a representative payee or fiduciary, the department shall comply with the
126requirements for children under subsections (a) through (j). The department shall continue to
127provide financial literacy training under paragraph (h) to young adults who become eligible for
128direct payment of benefits and continue to receive young adult services from the department.
129 SECTION 5. Not later than 90 days after the effective date of this act, the secretary of the
130executive office of health and human services shall promulgate regulations as necessary to
131implement section 23D of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as inserted by this act. The notice
132provisions of this section 23D of chapter 119 of the General Laws shall go into effect 18 months
133after the enactment of this act. Until the effective implementation date, the department shall
134make best efforts to ensure compliance with the notice requirements of section 23D of chapter
135119 of the General Laws. The financial literacy requirements set forth in subsection (h) of
136section 23D of chapter 119 shall go into effect 18 months after the enactment of this act. Until
137the effective implementation date, the department shall make best efforts to ensure compliance
138with the financial literacy requirements set forth in said subsection (h).