BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1110
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
AB 1110 (Lara) - As Amended: April 28, 2011
As Proposed to be Amended
SUBJECT : Dependent children: Supplemental Security Income
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD COURT OVERSIGHT BE REQUIRED IN ORDER TO HELP
ENSURE THAT FOSTER YOUTH ELIGIBLE FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY
INCOME BENEFITS RECEIVE THOSE CRITICAL BENEFITS?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This bill, sponsored by the Alliance for Children's Rights and
the Children's Advocacy Institute, helps secure necessary
financial support for former foster youth by ensuring that older
foster youth are properly screened for Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) eligibility before they emancipate. It also
requires monitoring of who will become the representative payee
for foster youth eligible for SSI. Under current law, foster
youth must be screened for eligibility between the ages of 16
and one-half and 17 and one-half, but there is no oversight of
the process. As a result, both the court and the youth may be
unaware of the youth's SSI status or even if an application for
benefits has been filed. This bill requires the county child
welfare department to report to the court on the status of the
SSI review and requires the court to review the status and make
appropriate orders to ensure compliance with the law. This bill
passed the Assembly Human Services Committee on a vote of 6-0.
There is no known opposition.
SUMMARY : Requires additional reporting and court oversight to
ensure foster youth are appropriately screened for SSI
eligibility after age 16 and monitoring of who will become the
representative payee for SSI eligible foster youth.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds to the information required in the supplemental report
prepared by the child welfare agency for the status review
after a foster youth turns 16 and one-half to include
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information regarding whether the youth has been screened for
federal SSI benefits eligibility, whether an application has
been filed on the youth's behalf, and, if so, the status of
the application or appeal.
2)Requires, in the first supplemental report that indicates that
an application for federal SSI benefits has been made on
behalf of a foster youth, the report to include who has been
identified as the likely representative payee in the event
that SSI benefits are granted.
3)Requires, also as part of the supplemental report, information
regarding whether the county has applied to become the child's
representative payee for SSI benefits and whether the county
or any other individual has been appointed by the federal
Social Security Administration (SSA) to serve as the
representative payee for a child receiving SSI benefits while
in the county's custody.
4)Requires, at the periodic status review hearing for a child in
dependency, the reviewing body to:
a) Determine whether the youth was screened for SSI
eligibility between the ages of 16 and one-half and 17 and
one-half years; and,
b) Determine the efforts of the child welfare agency to
submit an application, as appropriate, and pursue federal
SSI benefits eligibility, including information about who
has been designated as the representative payee for the
youth in the event the benefits are approved, and efforts
to pursue reconsideration and appeals when appropriate.
c) Make appropriate orders to ensure that all youth between
the ages of 16 and one-half and 17 and one-half years are
screened for SSI, applications are submitted, and when
appropriate, denials of eligibility are appealed.
5)Except as provided, prohibits the court from terminating
jurisdiction over a nonminor who has reached 18 years of age
until the child welfare agency verifies that it has provided
the youth with the following:
a) Verification that the youth was screened for potential
SSI eligibility;
b) Written information on the status of the SSI
application;
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c) Information about who has been designated as the likely
representative payee in the event the SSI application is
approved; and,
d) Information regarding any reconsideration or appeal of
the SSI application, when appropriate, made on a youth's
behalf.
6)Requires the county to provide written notice to the child's
counsel of its intent to file to be appointed the child's
representative payee at least 30 days prior to making the
application if, at the time the child is taken into the
county's custody, the child is an SSI beneficiary and the
current representative payee is not the parent or guardian
alleged to have committed the abuse or neglect against the
child.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, under federal law, for SSI basic cash assistance to
low-income aged, blind, and disabled individuals and allows
for the appointment of a representative payee for a
beneficiary unable to manage his or her own benefits. (Title
XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et
seq.)
2)Requires the county, when a foster youth who is receiving SSI
payments is approaching his or her 18th birthday, to provide
the youth information regarding, and to assist the youth in
(1) continuation of SSI benefits as an adult; and (2) becoming
his or her own payee or designating someone else to be the
payee on the youth's behalf. (Welfare and Institutions Code
Section 13753. Unless stated otherwise, all further
references are to that code.)
3)Requires counties to screen all foster youth who are between
16 and one-half and 17 and one-half years old, in foster care,
and who are nearing emancipation to determine their potential
eligibility for federal SSI benefits and to make an
application for the benefits prior to emancipation, if the
youth is screened as likely to be eligible for SSI. (Section
13757.)
4)Requires the county to apply to be the appointed
representative payee on behalf of a foster child social
security or SSI beneficiary in its custody when no other
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appropriate party is available. (Section 13754.)
5)Requires the county, in its capacity as a representative
payee, to do all of the following:
a) Establish a no-cost, interest-bearing maintenance
account for each child in the county's custody for whom the
county serves as the representative payee and credit any
interest earned to the account.
b) Keep an itemized current account as required by federal
law, of all income and expense items for each child's
maintenance account.
c) Establish procedures for disbursing money from the
accounts, including the disbursement of the net balance to
the beneficiary upon their release from care.
d) Use the social security and SSI and State Supplement
Payment (SSP) benefits for the use and benefit of the
child, and for the purposes determined by the county to be
in the child's best interests.
e) Establish and maintain a dedicated account in a
financial institution for past-due monthly benefits that
exceed six times the maximum monthly benefit payable in
accordance with federal law, and not use funds from this
dedicated account for basic maintenance costs.
f) Use funds from the dedicated account for the benefit of
the child, which is limited to costs associated with
medical treatment, education or job skills training,
personal needs assistance, special equipment, housing
modification, therapy or rehabilitation, and other items or
services deemed appropriate by the SSA. (Id.)
6)Requires six-month reviews of the status of every foster
child, and for the county child welfare department to file a
supplemental report addressing specified topics filed at each
status review. (Sections 366-366.1.)
COMMENTS : This bill, sponsored by the Alliance for Children's
Rights and the Children's Advocacy Institute, helps secure
necessary financial support for former foster youth by ensuring
that older foster youth are properly screened for SSI
eligibility before they emancipate.
Background on Social Security Benefits for Foster Youth :
Supplemental Security Income benefits are federal disability
benefits available under Title XVI of the Social Security Act
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for certain low-income individuals, including children, with
disabilities. In addition to income and asset limitations,
eligibility for children may be determined on the basis of a
severe mental or physical impairment which impacts a child's
functioning and ability to work; or a child may be presumptively
eligible if he or she, is blind or has mental retardation, for
example. SSI provides cash assistance to help pay for basic
needs such as food, clothing and housing. In California,
qualifying for SSI also makes the beneficiary categorically
eligible for Medi-Cal, which includes access to mental health
services. For fiscal year 2008-2009, the average grant amount
for a disabled individual was $635. A 2007 report by the
Congressional Research Service, estimated there were
approximately 30,000 children in foster care nationwide eligible
for SSI benefits due to disability. According to the California
Department of Social Services, approximately 15 percent of youth
who age out of foster care are eligible for SSI.
Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OSDI)
Social Security benefits may also be paid to a child under Title
II of the Social Security Act on behalf of working parents who
have retired, become disabled or died.
Pursuant to federal law, when a Social Security and/or SSI
beneficiary is unable to manage his or her own benefits, a
representative payee must be appointed by the SSA. Typically,
this person might be a relative or close acquaintance.
California law requires the county to apply to become the
representative payee for a foster child in its custody when
there is no other appropriate person available. As the
representative payee, the county may use the child's SSI benefit
to offset the cost of the care it provides to the child. In
fact, in 2003 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right of
the states to offset the costs of foster care with its ruling in
Wash. State Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs. v. Guardianship Estate
of Danny Keffeler (2003) 537 U.S. 371. The Court noted in its
ruling that prohibiting a state from doing so could disadvantage
children in foster care because the state would not maintain the
child's SSI eligibility.
The child's benefits must be used, to promote the best interests
of the child which may include using the benefits to pay for
food, clothing, shelter or other items the child needs. If
there are benefits over what is spent each month on the child's
basic needs, then those benefits must be deposited into a
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maintenance account for the youth, which can only accumulate up
to the SSI resource limit of $2,000 before it must be spent down
on allowed expenses. Assets of more than $2,000 would
jeopardize the youth's SSI eligibility. Any funds remaining in
the youth's maintenance account when he or she emancipates are
paid out to the youth.
Importance of Screening Foster Children for SSI Eligibility :
California led the way for the nation in establishing laws that
work to ensure children are appropriately screened for SSI
eligibility while in care. AB 1633 (Evans), Chap. 641, Stats.
2005, established a workgroup whereby counties and child welfare
stakeholders developed best practice guidelines for establishing
and maintaining social security eligibility for children in
foster care. Recommendations issued by the workgroup were
included in a subsequent bill, AB 1331 (Evans), Chap. 465,
Stats. 2007, which required all counties to screen foster youth
and submit applications on their behalf between the ages of 16
and one-half and 17 and one-half years of age as a means of
ensuring SSI benefits are in place when the youth turns 18.
Following these efforts, the SSA granted the state unprecedented
approval in 2008 to allow California's disabled foster youth to
apply for SSI/SSP benefits prior to age 18; and in early 2010,
the SSA issued a nationwide directive allowing other states to
follow suit.
This bill requires additional reporting and court oversight to
ensure foster youth are appropriately screened for SSI benefits
eligibility after age 16. It also requires monitoring of who
will become the representative payee for foster youth eligible
for SSI. According to the author, while California law
currently requires county child welfare workers to screen youth
for SSI eligibility and make an application on behalf of likely
eligible youth, it does not require any report to be made to the
court to ensure the SSI screening has occurred, or to track the
status of the SSI application.
In addition, this bill requires the county to notify the child's
attorney in writing if it intends to become the representative
payee for a child if the child's existing representative payee
is not the parent accused of abusing or neglecting the child.
The author states that the intent of this notification is to
provide the child an opportunity to weigh in if there is already
another person in the child's life better suited than the county
to serve as the child's representative payee. In cases where
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the representative payee is already a parent from whom the child
was removed, the county would not need to provide the
notification, as it might delay the application to change the
representative payee.
For youth ages 16 and over, if an application is submitted for
SSI and the SSA appoints a representative payee for the youth,
this bill requires the county to include that information in the
supplemental report. This provision seeks to address
circumstances where a youth is approved for SSI benefits while
still in foster care and allows the court and counsel to
determine whether the appointed payee is, in fact, the most
suitable and appropriate option for that youth.
In support of the bill, the author writes:
Many children in foster care suffer from serious physical
or mental disabilities - often arising from the very abuse
or neglect that landed them in care. These children are
among California's neediest citizens, and in many cases
qualify for financial and health care assistance from
Supplemental Security Income program - federal needs based
program that, in California, is augmented by a State
Supplemental Payment (SSI/SSP). SSI is a benefit that a
disabled youth can qualify for while in foster care and
more importantly, continue to receive upon their
emancipation from care.
Author's Amendments : In order to ensure that the timeframe in
the supplemental report to the court matches the timeframe to
screen foster youths under current law, the author has rightly
agreed to amend the bill as follows:
On page 11, line 1, after the second "years" insert: and six
months
On page 20, line 29, after the second "years" insert: and six
months
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The co-sponsor of this bill, the
Children's Advocacy Institute writes:
Notwithstanding the requirement in current law that
foster children be screened for their eligibility,
current law does not also require any report be made
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to the court in order to ensure that the SSI screening
has in fact occurred or to track the status of the SSI
application. As a result, both the court and the
youth are often unaware of what the status of the
application is, or even whether it has been filed. The
availability of such resources could have a dramatic
influence on decisions regarding transition planning
of the youth.
Moreover, for most child beneficiaries, SSA appoints
the child's parent or guardian to serve as
representative payee. For foster children, that is
often not possible or appropriate. In such cases, SSA
is required to identify and select the representative
payee who will best serve the child's interests, using
preference lists contained in federal regulations.
Although the lists provide guidelines that are meant
to be flexible, foster care agencies are ranked last
in order of preference.
In most instances in California, the assignment of the
responsible child welfare agency as representative
payee for a foster child is practically automatic --
without counsel for the child ever being notified.
This happens despite the fact that California law
specifies that a county should be the payee only when
no other appropriate party is able to serve as the
youth's representative payee.
Instead, for most foster youth, SSA provides notice
solely to the child's legal guardian or legal
representative - and this is often the same state or
county agency that is applying to be the child's
representative payee in the first place. Current
federal law does not require the foster care agency to
notify the child, the child's attorney or even the
juvenile court (which is ultimately responsible for
the child's well being) that it has applied to be or
has been appointed as a foster child's representative
payee.
Without notification, the child, the child's attorney,
and the juvenile court have no opportunity to notify
SSA that there might be a parent, relative, family
friend, or other person in the child's life who might
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be a more appropriate choice.
The Alliance for Children's Rights, a co-sponsor of this bill
writes in support, that provisions of this bill will serve to
strengthen existing law by requiring social workers to report on
the status of SSI screenings and applications at all dependency
court hearing after the minor turns 16, including the final
termination of jurisdiction hearing, which will ensure the
transition plan for the youth includes the requisite benefits
screening and application. In addition, the Alliance for
Children's Rights points out that the requirement for counties
to notify counsel of their application with the SSA to become a
foster youth's representative payee will provide the youth,
judge, and child's attorney with an opportunity to notify the
SSA if there may be another, more appropriate representative
payee available for the foster youth, such as a relative,
parent, family friend, or other person in the child's life
suitable as a representative payee applicant.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Children's Advocacy Institute (co-sponsor)
The Alliance for Children's Rights (co-sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334