Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4244 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R10542 MM-F
2	2	By: Toth H.B. No. 4244
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the appointment of a representative payee or fiduciary
8	8	for a child in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
9	9	Protective Services.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 264, Family Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 264.0112 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 264.0112. APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE OR
14	14	FIDUCIARY FOR CHILD. (a) In this section, "legal representative"
15	15	means the child's attorney, the child's attorney ad litem, or
16	16	another individual appointed by a court to represent the legal
17	17	interests of the child.
18	18	(b) For a child in the department's conservatorship who
19	19	receives or is eligible to receive benefits or services for which a
20	20	representative payee or fiduciary is required, the department
21	21	shall, in cooperation with the child's legal representative, select
22	22	an appropriate individual to serve as the child's representative
23	23	payee or fiduciary in accordance with the requirements of 20 C.F.R.
24	24	Section 404.2021. If the department and the child's legal
25	25	representative do not agree on a representative payee or fiduciary,
26	26	the department shall request a hearing to determine an appropriate
27	27	individual. The court shall consider the appointment of the child's
28	28	relative and other designated caregivers. If the court does not
29	29	identify an appropriate individual, the court may name the
30	30	department as the representative payee or fiduciary.
31	31	(c) In accordance with federal law, if the department serves
32	32	as the representative payee or in any other fiduciary capacity for a
33	33	child receiving United States Department of Veterans Affairs
34	34	benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under 42
35	35	U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq., or Social Security Disability
36	36	Insurance (SSDI) benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 401 et seq., the
37	37	department shall:
38	38	(1) from the date the child turns 14 years of age until
39	39	the date the department no longer serves as the child's
40	40	representative payee or fiduciary, reserve the following minimum
41	41	percentage of the child's benefits for use by the child:
42	42	(A) for a child who is at least 14 years of age
43	43	but younger than 16 years of age, at least 40 percent;
44	44	(B) for a child who is at least 16 years of age
45	45	but younger than 18 years of age, at least 80 percent; and
46	46	(C) for a child who is at least 18 years of age,
47	47	100 percent;
48	48	(2) exercise discretion in accordance with federal law
49	49	and in the best interest of the child when making decisions to use
50	50	or save the child's benefits or resources that are less than or not
51	51	subject to asset or resource limits under federal law, including
52	52	using the benefits to address the child's special needs and saving
53	53	the benefits for the child's reasonably foreseeable future needs;
54	54	(3) appropriately monitor federal asset or resource
55	55	limits for the child's benefits and ensure that the child's best
56	56	interest is served by using or saving the benefits in a manner that
57	57	avoids violating federal asset or resource limits that would
58	58	negatively affect the child's eligibility to receive the benefits,
59	59	including by using:
60	60	(A) a Social Security Administration Plan to
61	61	Achieve Self-Support account for the child and determining whether
62	62	it is in the best interest of the child to save all or part of the
63	63	child's benefits in the account;
64	64	(B) an ABLE account authorized by Section 529A,
65	65	Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the child and conserving the
66	66	child's benefits in that account in a manner that appropriately
67	67	avoids any federal asset or resource limits;
68	68	(C) an individual development account for the
69	69	child and conserving the child's benefits in that account in a
70	70	manner that appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource
71	71	limits;
72	72	(D) a special needs trust for the child and
73	73	conserving the child's benefits in the trust in a manner that is
74	74	consistent with federal requirements for special needs trusts and
75	75	that appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource limits;
76	76	(E) the benefits to pay for the child's special
77	77	needs not otherwise provided by the department if the department
78	78	determines it is in the best interest of the child;
79	79	(F) a dedicated account, if federal law requires
80	80	certain back payments of benefits to be placed in a dedicated
81	81	account, that complies with the requirements for dedicated accounts
82	82	under 20 C.F.R. Section 416.640(e); and
83	83	(G) any other exclusions from federal asset or
84	84	resource limits available under federal law and using or conserving
85	85	the child's benefits in a manner that appropriately avoids any
86	86	federal asset or resource limits;
87	87	(4) provide an annual accounting to the child and the
88	88	child's legal representative regarding the use or saving of the
89	89	child's resources in accordance with this section; and
90	90	(5) provide financial literacy training for each child
91	91	who is at least 14 years of age.
92	92	(d) The department shall immediately provide notice to the
93	93	child through the child's legal representative regarding:
94	94	(1) any application for United States Department of
95	95	Veterans Affairs benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
96	96	benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq., or Social Security
97	97	Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 401 et
98	98	seq. made on the child's behalf;
99	99	(2) if the department is identified as the
100	100	representative payee under Subsection (b), any application to
101	101	become representative payee for the child's United States
102	102	Department of Veterans Affairs benefits, Supplemental Security
103	103	Income (SSI) benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq., or
104	104	Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits under 42
105	105	U.S.C. Section 401 et seq.;
106	106	(3) any decisions or communications from the United
107	107	States Department of Veterans Affairs or the Social Security
108	108	Administration regarding an application described by Subdivision
109	109	(1); and
110	110	(4) any appeal or other action requested by the
111	111	department regarding an application for benefits described by
112	112	Subdivision (1).
113	113	(e) If the department serves as the representative payee or
114	114	otherwise receives United States Department of Veterans Affairs
115	115	benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under 42
116	116	U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq., or Social Security Disability
117	117	Insurance (SSDI) benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 401 et seq. on the
118	118	child's behalf, the department shall provide notice to the child
119	119	through the child's legal representative of the following before
120	120	each placement review hearing:
121	121	(1) the amount of benefit funds received on the child's
122	122	behalf since the most recent notification to the child's legal
123	123	representative and the date the benefits were received;
124	124	(2) information regarding the child's assets and
125	125	resources, including the child's benefits, insurance, cash assets,
126	126	trust accounts, earnings, and other resources;
127	127	(3) an accounting of the disbursement of benefit
128	128	funds, including the date, amount, and identification of the payee;
129	129	and
130	130	(4) information regarding each request by the court
131	131	appointed special advocate for the child, the child's legal
132	132	representative, or the child's caregiver for disbursement of funds
133	133	and a statement regarding the department's reason for not granting
134	134	the request if the request was not granted.
135	135	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.