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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2025 -- H 5077 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC000588 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, |
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| 16 | 16 | | YOUTH AND FAMILIES |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Representatives Casimiro, Noret, Chippendale, Roberts, Serpa, Tanzi, |
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| 18 | 18 | | Cruz, Morales, Place, and Read |
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| 19 | 19 | | Date Introduced: January 16, 2025 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Referred To: House Finance |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 42-72 of the General Laws entitled "Department of Children, Youth 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | and Families" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | 42-72-37. Application for social security benefits, supplemental security income, and 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | veterans benefits. 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section: 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (1) "Benefits" means social security benefits, supplemental security income, veterans 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | benefits, and railroad retirement benefits; and 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (2) "Youth's attorney" and "guardian ad litem" means the person appointed as the youth's 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | attorney or guardian ad litem in the proceeding in which the department is appointed as the youth's 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | guardian or custodian. 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (b) Application for benefits. 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) Upon receiving temporary custody or guardianship of a youth in care, the department 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | shall assess the youth to determine whether the youth may be eligible for benefits. If, after the 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | assessment, the department determines that the youth may be eligible for benefits, the department 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | shall ensure that an application is filed on behalf of the youth. The department shall prescribe by 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | rules and regulations how it will review cases of youth in care at regular intervals to determine 16 |
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| 40 | 40 | | whether the youth may have become eligible for benefits after the initial assessment. The 17 |
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| 41 | 41 | | department shall make reasonable efforts to encourage youth in care over the age of eighteen (18) 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | LC000588 - Page 2 of 7 |
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| 45 | 45 | | who are likely eligible for benefits to cooperate with the application process and to assist youth 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | with the application process. 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (2) When applying for benefits under this section for a youth in care the department shall 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | identify a representative payee in accordance with the requirements of 20 CFR 404.2021 and 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | 416.621. If the department is seeking to be appointed as the youth's representative payee, the 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | department shall consider input, if provided, from the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | regarding whether another representative payee, consistent with the requirements of 20 CFR 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | 404.2021 and 416.621, is available. If the department serves as the representative payee for a youth 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | over the age of eighteen (18), the department shall request a court order, as described in subsection 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (d) of this section. 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (c) Notifications. The department shall immediately notify a youth over the age of sixteen 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (16), the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem, and the youth's parent or legal guardian or another 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | responsible adult of: 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (1) Any application for or any application to become representative payee for benefits on 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | behalf of a youth in care; 15 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) Any communications from the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of 16 |
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| 61 | 61 | | Veterans Affairs, or the Railroad Retirement Board pertaining to the acceptance or denial of 17 |
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| 62 | 62 | | benefits or the selection of a representative payee; and 18 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (3) Any appeal or other action requested by the department regarding an application for 19 |
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| 64 | 64 | | benefits. 20 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (d) Use of benefits. Consistent with federal law, when the department serves as the 21 |
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| 66 | 66 | | representative payee for a youth receiving benefits and receives benefits on the youth's behalf, the 22 |
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| 67 | 67 | | department shall: 23 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (1) Beginning January 1, 2026, except as provided in a request for the disbursement of 24 |
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| 69 | 69 | | funds pursuant to subsection (f)(4) of this section, ensure that when the youth attains the age of 25 |
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| 70 | 70 | | fourteen (14) years and until the department no longer serves as the representative payee, a 26 |
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| 71 | 71 | | minimum percentage of the youth's supplemental security income benefits are conserved in 27 |
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| 72 | 72 | | accordance with subsection (d)(4) of this section as follows: 28 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (i) From the age of fourteen (14) through the age of fifteen (15), at least forty percent 29 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (40%); 30 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (ii) From the age of sixteen (16) through the age of seventeen (17), at least eighty percent 31 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (80%); and 32 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (iii) From the age of eighteen (18) through the age of twenty (20), one hundred percent 33 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (100%), when a court order has been entered expressly allowing the department to have the 34 |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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| 81 | 81 | | LC000588 - Page 3 of 7 |
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| 82 | 82 | | authority to establish and serve as an authorized agent of the youth over the age of eighteen (18) 1 |
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| 83 | 83 | | with respect to an account established in accordance with subsection (d)(4) of this section. 2 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (2) Beginning July 1, 2026, except as provided in a request for the disbursement of funds 3 |
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| 85 | 85 | | pursuant to subsection (f)(4) of this section, ensure that when the youth attains the age of fourteen 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | (14) years and until the department no longer serves as the representative payee, a minimum 5 |
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| 87 | 87 | | percentage of the youth' s social security benefits, veterans benefits, or railroad retirement benefits 6 |
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| 88 | 88 | | are conserved in accordance with subsection (d)(4) of this section as follows: 7 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (i) From the age of fourteen (14) through the age of fifteen (15), at least forty percent 8 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (40%); 9 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (ii) From the age of sixteen (16) through the age of seventeen (17), at least eighty percent 10 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (80%); and 11 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (iii) From the age of eighteen (18) through the age of twenty (20), one hundred percent 12 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (100%), when a court order has been entered expressly allowing the department to have the 13 |
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| 95 | 95 | | authority to establish and serve as an authorized agent of the youth over the age of eighteen (18) 14 |
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| 96 | 96 | | with respect to an account established in accordance with subsection (d)(4) of this section. 15 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (3) Exercise discretion in accordance with federal law and in the best interests of the youth 16 |
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| 98 | 98 | | when making decisions to use or conserve the youth's benefits that are less than or not subject to 17 |
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| 99 | 99 | | asset or resource limits under federal law, including using the benefits to address the youth's special 18 |
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| 100 | 100 | | needs and conserving the benefits for the youth's reasonably foreseeable future needs. 19 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (4) Appropriately monitor any federal asset or resource limits for the benefits and ensure 20 |
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| 102 | 102 | | that the youth's best interest is served by using or conserving the benefits in a way that avoids 21 |
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| 103 | 103 | | violating any federal asset or resource limits that would affect the youth's eligibility to receive the 22 |
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| 104 | 104 | | benefits, including: 23 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (i) Applying to the Social Security Administration to establish a Plan to Achieve Self-24 |
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| 106 | 106 | | Support (PASS) Account for the youth under the Social Security Act and determining whether it is 25 |
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| 107 | 107 | | in the best interest of the youth to conserve all or parts of the benefits in the PASS account; 26 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (ii) Establishing a 529 plan for the youth and conserving the youth's benefits in that account 27 |
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| 109 | 109 | | in a manner that appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource limits; 28 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (iii) Establishing an individual development account for the youth and conserving the 29 |
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| 111 | 111 | | youth's benefits in that account in a manner that appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource 30 |
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| 112 | 112 | | limits; 31 |
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| 113 | 113 | | (iv) Establishing an ABLE account authorized by Section 529A of the Internal Revenue 32 |
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| 114 | 114 | | Code of 1986 for the youth and conserving the youth's benefits in that account in a manner that 33 |
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| 115 | 115 | | appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource limits; 34 |
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| 116 | 116 | | |
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| 117 | 117 | | |
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| 118 | 118 | | LC000588 - Page 4 of 7 |
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| 119 | 119 | | (v) Establishing a Social Security Plan to Achieve Self-Support account for the youth and 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | conserving the youth's benefits in a manner that appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | limits; 3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (vi) Establishing a special needs trust for the youth and conserving the youth's benefits in 4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | the trust in a manner that is consistent with federal requirements for special needs trusts and that 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource limits; 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (vii) If the department determines that using the benefits for services for current special 7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | needs not already provided by the department is in the best interest of the youth, using the benefits 8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | for those services; 9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (viii) If federal law requires certain back payments of benefits to be placed in a dedicated 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | account, complying with the requirements for dedicated accounts under 20 CFR 416.640(e); and 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (ix) Applying any other exclusions from federal asset or resource limits available under 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | federal law and using or conserving the youth' s benefits in a manner that appropriately avoids any 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | federal asset or resource limits. 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (e) By January 1, 2027, the department shall provide a report to the general assembly 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | regarding youth in care who receive benefits who are not subject to this section. The report shall 16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | discuss a goal of expanding conservation of children's benefits to all benefits of all children of any 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | age for whom the department serves as representative payee. The report shall include a description 18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | of any identified obstacles, steps to be taken to address the obstacles, and a description of any need 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | for statutory, rule, regulation, or procedural changes. 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (f)(1) Annual accounting. The department shall provide an annual accounting to the youth's 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | attorney and guardian ad litem of how the youth's benefits have been used and conserved. In 22 |
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| 141 | 141 | | addition, within ten (10) business days of a request from a youth or the youth's attorney and 23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | guardian ad litem, the department shall provide an accounting to the youth of how the youth's 24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | benefits have been used and conserved. The accounting shall include: 25 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (i) The amount of benefits received on the youth's behalf since the most recent accounting 26 |
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| 145 | 145 | | and the date the benefits were received; 27 |
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| 146 | 146 | | (ii) Information regarding the youth's benefits and resources, including the youth's benefits, 28 |
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| 147 | 147 | | insurance, cash assets, trust accounts, earnings, and other resources; 29 |
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| 148 | 148 | | (iii) An accounting of the disbursement of benefit funds, including the date, amount, 30 |
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| 149 | 149 | | identification of payee, and purpose; and 31 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (iv) Information regarding each request by the youth, the youth's attorney and guardian ad 32 |
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| 151 | 151 | | litem, or the youth's caregiver for disbursement of funds and a statement regarding the reason for 33 |
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| 152 | 152 | | not granting the request if the request was denied. 34 |
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| 153 | 153 | | |
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| 154 | 154 | | |
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| 155 | 155 | | LC000588 - Page 5 of 7 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (2) Final accounting. When the department's guardianship of the youth is being terminated, 1 |
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| 157 | 157 | | the department shall provide: 2 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (i) A final accounting to the Social Security Administration, to the youth's attorney and 3 |
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| 159 | 159 | | guardian ad litem, and to either the person or persons who will assume guardianship of the youth 4 |
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| 160 | 160 | | or who is in the process of adopting the youth, if the youth is under eighteen (18), or to the youth, 5 |
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| 161 | 161 | | if the youth is over eighteen (18); and 6 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (ii) Information to the parent, guardian, or youth regarding how to apply to become the 7 |
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| 163 | 163 | | representative payee. The department shall adopt rules and regulations to ensure that the 8 |
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| 164 | 164 | | representative payee transitions occur in a timely and appropriate manner. 9 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (g) Financial literacy. The department shall provide the youth with financial literacy 10 |
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| 166 | 166 | | training and support, including specific information regarding the existence, availability, and use 11 |
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| 167 | 167 | | of funds conserved for the youth in accordance with this subsection, beginning by age fourteen 12 |
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| 168 | 168 | | (14). The literacy program and support services shall be developed in consultation with input from 13 |
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| 169 | 169 | | the department's statewide speak advisory board. 14 |
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| 170 | 170 | | (h) Adoption of rules and regulations. The department shall adopt rules and regulations to 15 |
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| 171 | 171 | | implement the provisions of this section by October 1, 2025. 16 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (i) Reporting. 17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | No later than January 1, 2028, the department shall file a report with the general assembly 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | providing the following information for state fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and annually beginning 19 |
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| 175 | 175 | | January 1, 2029, for the preceding fiscal year: 20 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (1) The number of youth entering care. 21 |
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| 177 | 177 | | (2) The number of youth entering care receiving each of the following types of benefits: 22 |
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| 178 | 178 | | social security benefits, supplemental security income, veterans benefits, and/or railroad retirement 23 |
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| 179 | 179 | | benefits. 24 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (3) The number of youth entering care for whom the department filed an application for 25 |
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| 181 | 181 | | each of the following types of benefits: social security benefits, supplemental security income, 26 |
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| 182 | 182 | | veterans benefits, and/or railroad retirement benefits. 27 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (4) The number of youth entering care who were awarded each of the following types of 28 |
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| 184 | 184 | | benefits based on an application filed by the department: social security benefits, supplemental 29 |
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| 185 | 185 | | security income, veterans benefits, and/or railroad retirement benefits. 30 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (j) Annually beginning January 1, 2028, the department shall file a report with the general 31 |
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| 187 | 187 | | assembly with the following information regarding the preceding fiscal year: 32 |
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| 188 | 188 | | (1) The number of conserved accounts established and maintained for youth in care; 33 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (2) The average amount conserved by age group; and 34 |
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| 190 | 190 | | |
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| 191 | 191 | | |
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| 192 | 192 | | LC000588 - Page 6 of 7 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (3) The total amount conserved by age group. 1 |
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| 194 | 194 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 2 |
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| 195 | 195 | | ======== |
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| 196 | 196 | | LC000588 |
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| 197 | 197 | | ======== |
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| 198 | 198 | | |
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| 199 | 199 | | |
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| 200 | 200 | | LC000588 - Page 7 of 7 |
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| 201 | 201 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 202 | 202 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 203 | 203 | | OF |
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| 204 | 204 | | A N A C T |
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| 205 | 205 | | RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, |
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| 206 | 206 | | YOUTH AND FAMILIES |
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| 207 | 207 | | *** |
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| 208 | 208 | | This act would require the department of children, youth and families (DCYF) to establish 1 |
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| 209 | 209 | | segregated savings accounts for a foster care child receiving social security benefits, supplemental 2 |
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| 210 | 210 | | security income, veterans benefits or railroad retirement benefits, which payments would be exempt 3 |
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| 211 | 211 | | from the asset limits in order to manage the accounts and keep the child eligible for future benefits. 4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 5 |
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| 213 | 213 | | ======== |
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| 214 | 214 | | LC000588 |
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