Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Minnesota House Bill HF588 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1.1 A bill for an act
2	2	1.2 relating to foster children; establishing a trust for foster children receiving
3	3	1.3 Supplemental Security Income benefits; requiring a report; appropriating money;
4	4	1.4 amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 142A.609, subdivision 11; proposing
5	5	1.5 coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 142A.
6	6	1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
7	7	1.7 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 142A.609, subdivision 11, is amended to
8	8	1.8read:
9	9	1.9 Subd. 11.Treatment of Supplemental Security Income.(a) If a child placed in foster
10	10	1.10care receives benefits through Supplemental Security Income (SSI) at the time of foster
11	11	1.11care placement or subsequent to placement in foster care, the financially responsible agency
12	12	1.12may apply to be the payee for the child for the duration of the child's placement in foster
13	13	1.13care. If a child continues to be eligible for SSI Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits
14	14	1.14after finalization of the adoption or transfer of permanent legal and physical custody and is
15	15	1.15determined to be eligible for a payment under Northstar Care for Children, a permanent
16	16	1.16caregiver may choose to receive payment from both programs simultaneously. The permanent
17	17	1.17caregiver is responsible to report the amount of the payment to the Social Security
18	18	1.18Administration and the SSI payment will be reduced as required by the Social Security
19	19	1.19Administration.
20	20	1.20 (b) If a financially responsible agency applies to be the payee for a child who receives
21	21	1.21benefits through SSI, or receives the benefits under this subdivision on behalf of a child,
22	22	1.22the financially responsible agency must provide written notice by certified mail, return
23	23	1.23receipt requested to:
24	24	1Section 1.
25	25	REVISOR DTT/CH 25-0351602/07/25
26	26	State of Minnesota
27	27	This Document can be made available
28	28	in alternative formats upon request
29	29	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
30	30	H. F. No. 588
31	31	NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
32	32	Authored by Quam02/13/2025
33	33	The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Children and Families Finance and Policy 2.1 (1) the child, if the child is 13 years of age or older;
34	34	2.2 (2) the child's parent, guardian, or custodian or if there is no legal parent or custodian
35	35	2.3the child's relative selected by the agency;
36	36	2.4 (3) the guardian ad litem;
37	37	2.5 (4) the legally responsible agency; and
38	38	2.6 (5) the counsel appointed for the child pursuant to section 260C.163, subdivision 3.
39	39	2.7 (c) If a financially responsible agency receives benefits under this subdivision on behalf
40	40	2.8of a child 13 years of age or older, the legally responsible agency and the guardian ad litem
41	41	2.9must disclose this information to the child in person in a manner that best helps the child
42	42	2.10understand the information. This paragraph does not apply in circumstances where the child
43	43	2.11is living outside of Minnesota.
44	44	2.12 (d) If a financially responsible agency receives the benefits under this subdivision on
45	45	2.13behalf of a child, it cannot use those funds for any other purpose than the care of that child.
46	46	2.14The financially responsible agency must not commingle any benefits received under this
47	47	2.15subdivision and must not put the benefits received on behalf of a child under this subdivision
48	48	2.16into a general fund.
49	49	2.17 (e) If a financially responsible agency receives any benefits under this subdivision, it
50	50	2.18must keep a record of:
51	51	2.19 (1) the total dollar amount it received on behalf of all children it receives benefits for;
52	52	2.20 (2) the total number of children it applied to be a payee for; and
53	53	2.21 (3) the total number of children it received benefits for.
54	54	2.22 (f) By July 1, 2025, and each July 1 thereafter, each financially responsible agency must
55	55	2.23submit a report to the commissioner of children, youth, and families that includes the
56	56	2.24information required under paragraph (e). By September 1 of each year, the commissioner
57	57	2.25must submit a report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees
58	58	2.26with jurisdiction over child protection that compiles the information provided to the
59	59	2.27commissioner by each financially responsible agency under paragraph (e); subdivision 12,
60	60	2.28paragraph (e); and section 260C.331, subdivision 7, paragraph (d). This paragraph expires
61	61	2.29January 31, 2034.
62	62	2Section 1.
63	63	REVISOR DTT/CH 25-0351602/07/25 3.1 Sec. 2. [142A.613] FOSTER CHILDREN ASSISTANCE TRUST.
64	64	3.2 Subdivision 1.Definition.For the purposes of this section, "beneficiary" means a current
65	65	3.3or former child in foster care for whom a financially responsible agency sends federal cash
66	66	3.4assistance benefits to the commissioner of children, youth, and families pursuant to this
67	67	3.5section.
68	68	3.6 Subd. 2.Establishment.(a) The foster children assistance trust is established. The trust
69	69	3.7consists of deposits made by the commissioner of children, youth, and families pursuant to
70	70	3.8this section. The trust must be managed to ensure the stability and growth of the trust.
71	71	3.9 (b) All assets of the trust are held in trust for the exclusive benefit of beneficiaries. Assets
72	72	3.10must be held in a separate account in the state treasury to be known as the foster children
73	73	3.11assistance trust account or in accounts with the third-party provider selected pursuant to
74	74	3.12subdivision 9. Trust assets are not subject to claims by creditors of the state, are not part of
75	75	3.13the general fund, and are not subject to appropriation by the state.
76	76	3.14 Subd. 3.Requirements of financially responsible agencies.(a) A financially responsible
77	77	3.15agency must assess whether each child the agency is responsible for is eligible to receive
78	78	3.16benefits through SSI.
79	79	3.17 (b) If a child placed in foster care is eligible to receive federal cash assistance benefits,
80	80	3.18the financially responsible agency must:
81	81	3.19 (1) apply to be the payee for the child for the duration of the child's placement in foster
82	82	3.20care;
83	83	3.21 (2) within 90 days of receipt, remit all benefit payments received as payee for a foster
84	84	3.22child's federal cash assistance benefits to the commissioner of children, youth, and families
85	85	3.23along with documentation identifying the child and amounts received for the child;
86	86	3.24 (3) notify each beneficiary above the age of 18 that the beneficiary may be entitled to
87	87	3.25disbursements pursuant to the foster children assistance trust and inform the child how to
88	88	3.26contact the commissioner of children, youth, and families about the trust; and
89	89	3.27 (4) retain all documentation related to federal cash assistance benefits received for a
90	90	3.28beneficiary for at least five years after the agency is no longer the beneficiary's financially
91	91	3.29responsible agency.
92	92	3.30 (c) The financially responsible agency is liable to a beneficiary for any benefit payment
93	93	3.31that the agency receives as payee for a beneficiary and that is not sent to the commissioner
94	94	3.32of children, youth, and families as required by this section.
95	95	3Sec. 2.
96	96	REVISOR DTT/CH 25-0351602/07/25 4.1 Subd. 4.Deposits.The commissioner of children, youth, and families shall deposit all
97	97	4.2money sent pursuant to this section in the foster children assistance trust.
98	98	4.3 Subd. 5.Commissioner's duties.(a) The commissioner of children, youth, and families
99	99	4.4shall keep a record of the receipts and disbursements of the trust and a separate account for
100	100	4.5each beneficiary.
101	101	4.6 (b) The commissioner shall determine annually the annual interest earnings of the trust,
102	102	4.7which include realized capital gains and losses.
103	103	4.8 (c) The commissioner shall apportion any annual capital gains earnings to the separate
104	104	4.9beneficiaries' accounts. The rate to be used in this apportionment, computed to the last full
105	105	4.10quarter percent, must be determined by dividing the capital gains earnings by the total
106	106	4.11invested assets of the trust.
107	107	4.12 (d) For each beneficiary between the ages of 14 and 18, the commissioner must, by
108	108	4.13February 1 each year, notify the beneficiary of the amount of federal cash assistance benefits
109	109	4.14received on the beneficiary's behalf in the prior calendar year and the tax implications of
110	110	4.15those benefits.
111	111	4.16 (e) Account owner data, account data, and data on beneficiaries of accounts are private
112	112	4.17data on individuals or nonpublic data as defined in section 13.02.
113	113	4.18 Subd. 6.Reimbursement.The commissioner of children, youth, and families shall
114	114	4.19reimburse a financially responsible agency for all benefits sent to the commissioner pursuant
115	115	4.20to this section.
116	116	4.21 Subd. 7.Reports.(a) By December 1, 2026, the commissioner shall submit a report to
117	117	4.22the legislative committees with jurisdiction over children, youth, and families on the potential
118	118	4.23tax and state and federal benefit impacts of the trust and disbursements on beneficiaries and
119	119	4.24include recommendations on how best to minimize any increased tax burden or benefit
120	120	4.25reduction due to the trust.
121	121	4.26 (b) By December 1 of each year, the commissioner shall submit a report to the legislative
122	122	4.27committees with jurisdiction over children, youth, and families on the cost of reimbursing
123	123	4.28financially responsible agencies pursuant to this section and a projection for future costs.
124	124	4.29 Subd. 8.Disbursements.(a) Once a beneficiary has reached 18 years of age, the
125	125	4.30commissioner of children, youth, and families shall disburse $10,000 every year to the
126	126	4.31beneficiary until the beneficiary's account is depleted.
127	127	4.32 (b) With each disbursement, the commissioner shall include information about the
128	128	4.33potential tax and benefits consequences of the disbursement.
129	129	4Sec. 2.
130	130	REVISOR DTT/CH 25-0351602/07/25 5.1 (c) On petition of a minor beneficiary who is at least 14 years old, a court may order the
131	131	5.2commissioner to deliver or pay to the beneficiary or expend for the beneficiary's benefit the
132	132	5.3amount of the beneficiary's trust account as the court considers advisable for the use and
133	133	5.4benefit of the beneficiary.
134	134	5.5 Subd. 9.Administration.The commissioner shall administer the program pursuant to
135	135	5.6this section. The commissioner may contract with one or more third parties to carry out
136	136	5.7some or all of these administrative duties, including managing the assets of the trust and
137	137	5.8ensuring that records are maintained.
138	138	5.9 Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.
139	139	5.10 $....... in fiscal year 2026 and $....... in fiscal year 2027 are appropriated from the general
140	140	5.11fund to the commissioner of children, youth, and families to reimburse financially responsible
141	141	5.12agencies for federal cash assistance benefits sent to the commissioner pursuant to Minnesota
142	142	5.13Statutes, section 142A.613.
143	143	5Sec. 3.
144	144	REVISOR DTT/CH 25-0351602/07/25