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S2829AChildren

State Affairs and Government - Department of Children, Youth and Families

Requires the state to apply for federal benefits on behalf of foster youth and save the funds for them.

Introduced38 Yea0 Nay0 Not voting
Population
Affected
8
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation requires the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to determine if children in their care are eligible for federal benefits, such as Social Security or Veterans benefits. If eligible, DCYF must apply for these benefits on the child's behalf and save the funds in specific accounts for the child's future use. The bill mandates that DCYF notify the child's legal representatives about the funds, provide annual financial accounting, and offer financial literacy training to youth starting at age 14. DCYF must also submit annual reports to the legislature regarding these conserved funds.

For younger readers

Sometimes children have to live in foster care, and the state government takes care of them. Some of these kids are supposed to get special money, like from Social Security. This bill says that the state workers taking care of the kids must help them get that money and save it in a bank account so they have it when they grow up. The adults also have to teach the kids how to manage their money once they turn 14, and tell the kids' lawyers exactly how much money is saved.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Foster youthDepartment of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF)Guardians ad litemFoster parents and legal guardiansSocial Security Administration
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. The bill regulates state agency procedures regarding the handling of federal benefits for wards of the state, aligning with federal law and not infringing on free speech, due process, or search and seizure protections.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures that vulnerable foster youth retain their federal benefits for their own future use rather than having the state seize the funds to pay for their care, promoting economic justice.
  • Mandates financial literacy training for youth starting at age 14, equipping them with essential life skills to manage their conserved funds and achieve independence.
  • Increases transparency by requiring the department to provide regular financial accounting to the youth's legal advocates, protecting marginalized youth from financial exploitation.
  • The full conservation of funds does not begin until January 1, 2027, leaving current youth in care vulnerable to having their benefits intercepted by the state in the interim.
  • Allows the child welfare department to continue acting as the representative payee, which could create a conflict of interest despite the new accounting requirements.
  • Relies heavily on the department to draft its own rules and regulations for implementation, which could lead to bureaucratic hurdles that delay youth access to their funds.
For Conservatives
  • Imposes strict accounting and reporting requirements on a state agency, ensuring better government oversight and transparency regarding how federal funds are handled.
  • Encourages self-sufficiency and personal responsibility by providing financial literacy training, potentially reducing the youths' reliance on government assistance in adulthood.
  • Protects the private property rights of individuals by ensuring inheritances, pensions, and life insurance benefits are conserved rather than absorbed by the state bureaucracy.
  • Increases the administrative and regulatory burden on the state's child welfare department by mandating extensive new assessments, accounting procedures, and annual reporting.
  • By forcing the state to conserve these benefits for the youth, the state loses a revenue stream it previously used to offset foster care costs, increasing the financial burden on taxpayers.
  • Expands government mandates by requiring the department to develop and implement a new financial literacy program, which will require additional state resources to operate.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 94 additions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 42-72 of the General Laws entitled "Department of Children, Youth and Families" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 42-72-37. Application for social security benefits, supplemental security income, and veterans benefits.

(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:

(1) "Benefits" means social security benefits, supplemental security income, veterans benefits, and railroad retirement benefits; and

(2) "Youth's attorney" and "guardian ad litem" means the person appointed as the youth's attorney or guardian ad litem in the proceeding in which the department is appointed as the youth's guardian or custodian.

(b) Application for benefits.

(1) Upon receiving temporary custody or guardianship of a youth in care, the department shall assess the youth to determine whether the youth may be eligible for benefits. If, after the assessment, the department determines that the youth may be eligible for benefits, the department shall ensure that an application is filed on behalf of the youth. The department shall conserve the youth’s benefits, including SSDI, inheritance, pensions, life insurance, or other benefits. If the department determines the youth is eligible for an ABLE account as authorized by Section 529A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, it shall conserve the benefits in that account in a manner that appropriately avoids any federal asset or resource limits, absent a compelling reason to conserve benefits in another manner. The department shall prescribe by rules and regulations how it will review cases of youth in care at regular intervals to determine whether the youth may have become eligible for benefits after the initial assessment. The department shall make reasonable efforts to encourage youth in care over the age of eighteen (18) who are likely eligible for benefits to cooperate with the application process and to assist youth with the application process.

(2) When applying for benefits under this section for a youth in care the department shall identify a representative payee in accordance with the requirements of 20 CFR 404.2021 and 416.621. If the department is seeking to be appointed as the youth's representative payee, the department shall consider input, if provided, from the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem regarding whether another representative payee, consistent with the requirements of 20 CFR 404.2021 and 416.621, is available. If the department serves as the representative payee for a youth over the age of eighteen (18), the department shall request a court order.

(c) Notifications. The department shall immediately notify a youth over the age of sixteen (16), the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem, and the youth's parent or legal guardian or another responsible adult of:

(1) Any application for or any application to become representative payee for benefits on behalf of a youth in care;

(2) Any communications from the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Railroad Retirement Board pertaining to the acceptance or denial of benefits or the selection of a representative payee; and

(3) Any appeal or other action requested by the department regarding an application for benefits.

(d) Use of benefits. Consistent with federal law, when the department serves as the representative payee for a youth receiving benefits and receives benefits on the youth's behalf, the department shall:

(1) Beginning January 1, 2027, except as provided in a request for the disbursement of funds, ensure that youth of any age in the care and custody of the department and until the department no longer serves as the representative payee, the entirety of the youth's benefits are conserved.

(2) Exercise discretion and seek advisement from the Office of the General Treasurer in accordance with federal law and in the best interests of the youth when making decisions to use or conserve the youth's benefits that are less than or not subject to asset or resource limits under federal law, including using the benefits to address the youth's special needs and conserving the benefits for the youth's reasonably foreseeable future needs.

(3) Appropriately monitor any federal asset or resource limits for the benefits and ensure that the youth's best interest is served by using or conserving the benefits, including SSDI, inheritance, pensions, life insurance, or other benefits in a way that avoids violating any federal asset or resource limits that would affect the youth's eligibility to receive the benefits. (e)(1) Annual accounting. The department shall provide an annual accounting to the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem of how the youth's benefits have been used and conserved. In addition, within ten (10) business days of a request from a youth or the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem, the department shall provide an accounting to the youth of how the youth's benefits have been used and conserved.

(2) Final accounting. When the department's guardianship of the youth is being terminated, the department shall provide:

(i) A final accounting to the Social Security Administration, to the youth's attorney and guardian ad litem, and to either the person or persons who will assume guardianship of the youth or who is in the process of adopting the youth, if the youth is under eighteen (18), or to the youth, if the youth is over eighteen (18); and

(ii) Information to the parent, guardian, or youth regarding how to apply to become the representative payee. The department shall adopt rules and regulations to ensure that the representative payee transitions occur in a timely and appropriate manner.

(f) Financial literacy. The department shall provide the youth with financial literacy training and support, including specific information regarding the existence, availability, and use of funds conserved for the youth in accordance with this subsection, beginning by age fourteen (14). The literacy program and support services shall be developed in consultation with input from the department's statewide speak advisory board and the office of the general treasurer.

(g) Adoption of rules and regulations. The department shall adopt rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section by October 1, 2026.

(h) Reporting. No later than January 1, 2029, the department shall file a report with the general assembly providing the following information for state fiscal years 2027 and 2028 and annually beginning January 1, 2030, for the preceding fiscal year:

(1) The number of youth entering care.

(2) The number of youth entering care receiving each of the following types of benefits: social security benefits, supplemental security income, veterans benefits, and/or railroad retirement benefits.

(3) The number of youth entering care for whom the department filed an application for each of the following types of benefits: social security benefits, supplemental security income, veterans benefits, and/or railroad retirement benefits.

(4) The number of youth entering care who were awarded each of the following types of benefits based on an application filed by the department: social security benefits, supplemental security income, veterans benefits, and/or railroad retirement benefits.

(i) Annually beginning January 1, 2029, the department shall file a report with the general assembly with the following information regarding the preceding fiscal year:

(1) The number of conserved accounts established and maintained for youth in care;

(2) The average amount conserved by age group; and

(3) The total amount conserved by age group.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.