BILL NUMBER: S7778
SPONSOR: BRISPORT
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring
commissioners of local social services districts to screen, apply for,
and use and conserve retirement, survivors and disability insurance,
supplemental security income, veterans' and other federal social securi-
ty benefits on behalf of children placed in foster care
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the Social Services Law § 398(6) by adding three new
paragraphs, q, r and s:
Paragraph q provides that LSSDs must timely screen all children who
enter foster care and apply for all federal benefits.
Paragraph r provides that when an LSSD serves as the representative
payee for a child, it must meet regularly with the child to assess their
needs, use the funds to meet any current needs not met through the
foster care system, and conserve the remaining funds in individualized
accounts, including specialized accounts that permit savings in excess
of any relevant federal or state assets cap. The LSSD must also provide
an annual accounting to the child and the child's attorney outlining how
the benefit has been used. This legislation further provides that LSSDs
are prohibited from using children's social security benefits to cover
the LSSD's own costs of providing foster care.
Paragraph s provides that LSSDs must provide information to the child
and the child's representative payee regarding use and conservation of
benefits. This provision also mandates LSSDs to provide at least five
hours of financial literacy to children and family members serving as
representative payees in appropriate circumstances.
Section two sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
For decades, LSSDs across the nation screened children who entered
foster care for eligibility for Social Security and other federal bene-
fits, applied for those benefits on behalf of children in foster care,
and retained the money. This egregious practice turned children, often
poor children of color, into sources of revenue for the state. This was
first brought to light through reporting by NPR and the Marshall
Project, who elevated the stories of children and young people who lived
through this practice and had tens of thousands of dollars secretly
taken from them.
Jurisdictions across the country have begun shifting their practices to
ensure that children's federal benefits are not taken by the state
simply because they are placed in foster care. New York State has long
engaged in this practice of taking children's benefits and now has the
opportunity to lead the nation in addressing the systematic economic
disenfranchisement of these vulnerable children in foster care.
In New York State, children who do not receive federal benefits are not
required to pay for their foster care placement, no matter their finan-
cial circumstances. Although LSSDs have a legal obligation to provide
foster care for free to all children, for years they have made disabled
children and those who have lost one or both parents pay for the foster
care system itself, using vulnerable children as a revenue stream.
Children pulled into the foster care system in New York State are
disproportionately children of color and are often from the poorest,
most vulnerable families. Children who age out of foster care currently
face myriad difficulties, at significantly increased rates from their
peers. Children leaving the system typically have much higher rates of
homelessness, shelter stays, unemployment, arrest and incarceration, and
face challenges paying for education, childcare, transportation, and
basic needs.
Having access to their own benefits can serve as a lifeline for children
transitioning out of the foster care system, and economic stability can
reduce future involvement in the foster care system, as well as the
juvenile and criminal justice systems, Federal benefits conserved on
behalf of a former foster youth could pay for housing, education, and
transportation, as well as costs related to their disabilities.
Protecting benefits on behalf of children would allow them to:
*Purchase necessary items not covered by foster care maintenance
payments, such as specialized medical equipment, technology(including
laptops, iPads, and tablets for academic work, and entertainment), and
equipment for participating in extracurricular activities;
*Establish savings for post-high school education opportunities;
*Pay for medical services (including mental health care) not covered by
Medicaid, or from a private provider to avoid lengthy waitlists for
services;
*Practice financial literacy while still in supportive care; and
*Transition to economic independence after discharge from care, includ-
ing being able to afford a stable apartment.
This bill would reduce economic hardships and the collateral conse-
quences that children who go through the foster care system suffer by
ensuring they are not economically disadvantaged simply because of their
placement in foster care and instead that their benefits are used to
their advantage.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S7778: 398 social services law, 398(6) social services law