BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1110
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 18, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1110 (Lara) - As Amended: May 12, 2011
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:6 - 0
Judiciary 9 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires additional reporting and court oversight
concerning the receipt of Supplemental Security (SSI) income for
foster youth. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires social workers to include in their supplemental
reports to the court the following information about SSI:
a) Whether the foster child has been screened for SSI
eligibility.
b) Whether an application for federal SSI benefits has been
filed on behalf of the foster child.
c) Any information regarding the status of a pending
application.
d) Whether the county has applied to become the child's
representative payee for SSI benefits and whether the
county or an individual known to the county has been
appointed to serve as a representative payee for a child
who is receiving SSI benefits while in the county's
custody.
2)Requires that the county must provide written notice to the
child's counsel 30 days in advance if the county intends to
file with the federal Social Security Administration (SSA) to
be appointed as the representative payee of a child who is an
SSI recipient at the time they are taken into protective
custody.
3)Authorizes a child's counsel to request an accounting of how a
foster child's SSI benefits are being expended if the county
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is the child's representative payee.
4)Requires, at the periodic status review hearing for a foster
child, the reviewing body make certain determinations
including determining the efforts of the child welfare agency
to submit an application 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.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)If this bill results in fewer counties serving as
representative payees for foster children in their county and
makes it more difficult for counties to access those SSI
benefits to pay for the children's basic necessities, it could
result in an increase in foster care grant costs. For every
100 foster children whose SSI benefits are no longer available
to cover the cost of their care, it would result in an
increase in the cost of foster care grants of approximately
$750,000 ($420,000 GF) per year.
2)While this bill does not explicitly state the intent of the
legislation is to remove county representatives as the
representative payee for children in foster care or that the
intent is to limit counties' ability to use SSI benefits to
pay for basic necessities' for the child while they are in
foster care, the sponsors of the bill, the Children's Advocacy
Institute (CAI), recently released a report entitled The
Fleecing of Children in Foster Care, which raised serious
concerns about the current practice of diverting SSI benefits
to pay for foster care. Based on the concerns raised in this
report, it is likely the underlying intent of this bill is to
limit counties' ability to serve as the representative payee.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author is concerned that foster youth and their
attorneys are not being properly informed on the status of
their SSI application and eligibility. The author is further
concerned by the fact that counties are not required to
provide an accounting of how SSI funds are being spent when a
county serves as the youth's representative payee. This bill
is intended to provide that information to foster youth and
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their attorneys so that the youth can make decisions about
whether or not it is appropriate for the county to serve as
the representative payee.
2)Background . Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are
federal disability benefits available under Title XVI of the
Social Security Act 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 a significant developmental disability.
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 nationwide in foster care
eligible for SSI benefits due to disability. According to the
California Department of Social Services, approximately 15% 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 Social Security
Administration (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 foster care. 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 Washington
State Department of Social and Health Services v. Guardianship
Estate of Danny Keffeler, 537 U.S. 371. The Court noted in
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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 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. A youth may not have
more than $2,000 in resources as it would jeopardize his or
her SSI eligibility. Any funds remaining in the youth's
maintenance account when he or she emancipates, are paid out
to the youth.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081