Summary:

 Senate Bill 333 (SB 333) enacts the Children's Benefits Account Act; provides for the Children, Youth and Families Department (Department) to be appointed as the representative payee to manage and maintain the retirement, survivors and disability insurance funds of children in the Department's custody; provides for the establishment of benefits accounts for beneficiaries; provides Department duties to manage benefits accounts on behalf of beneficiaries; provides definitions; provides for account closures and disbursements; provides for confidentiality; and provides for rule adoption. 

Legislation Overview:

 Senate Bill 333 (SB 333) enacts new sections of the Children’s Code (Code), as follows:

The Children's Benefits Account Act (Act) is enacted, and definitions are provided.

A.	"beneficiary" means a child in the custody of the department who receives a monthly benefit from the federal social security administration;
B.	"benefit" means the retirement, survivor and disability insurance funds paid monthly to a beneficiary;
C.	"benefits account" means an account established by the Children, Youth and Families Department (Department) into which a beneficiary's monthly benefit is deposited and maintained by the Department on behalf of the beneficiary; 
D.	"eligible beneficiary" means a child in the custody of the department who is not a beneficiary but is identified by the Department as eligible to receive benefits; and
E.	"representative payee" means the person or entity appointed to receive and manage the benefits of a beneficiary who is unable to manage those benefits.

The Department must take the steps necessary to be appointed as the representative payee for each child in the Department's custody who is a beneficiary or an eligible beneficiary. If a child in the Department's custody is an eligible beneficiary, the Department must provide a plan indicating how the beneficiary's funds will be used to meet the beneficiary's needs, as well as any other supportive information necessary or appropriate. 

The Department must establish a no-cost benefits account at a financial institution in this state for each beneficiary for whom the Department is appointed as representative payee. If a beneficiary for whom the department is a representative payee has funds from benefits credited to the beneficiary in another account established prior to the Department being appointed as representative payee, those funds must be transferred to the Department for deposit into the beneficiary's benefits account, along with any lump-sum retroactive benefits due and paid on behalf of the beneficiary. 

Each benefit payment received by the department on behalf of a beneficiary must be deposited into the beneficiary's benefits account, and the Department must administer, maintain and manage the benefits account only to the benefit of that beneficiary. 

In administering and managing benefits accounts, the Department must: (1) maintain an internal system whereby each beneficiary's benefits account is tracked and maintained as separate and distinct from any other beneficiary's benefits account; (2) provide a process by which the beneficiary of a benefits account or the parent or guardian of that beneficiary may request an accounting of the beneficiary's benefits account; (3) create an annual statement for each benefits account that includes an accounting of all deposits and disbursements from the account and provide the annual statement to each beneficiary and each beneficiary's parent or legal guardian; and (4) update the permanency plan as needed of a beneficiary to indicate that the child is receiving benefits as a beneficiary and the Department is the beneficiary's representative payee.

For a beneficiary who has reached the age of seventeen and is receiving benefits, the Department must determine whether, upon turning eighteen years of age, the beneficiary will require a representative payee to assist in managing the beneficiary's benefits as follows: (1) if the department determines that the beneficiary requires a representative payee, the Department must identify an appropriate representative payee, who must comply with the representative payee responsibilities set forth in 20 CFR Section 404.2035, as amended; and (2) if the beneficiary does not require a representative payee, the Department must provide assistance to the beneficiary with managing their benefits. 

The Department must disburse any remaining funds in a beneficiary's benefits account when a beneficiary is no longer in the custody of the Department.

A benefits account from which the Department has disbursed the remaining funds must be closed and the Department must provide the beneficiary and, if the beneficiary is younger than eighteen years of age, the beneficiary's parent or guardian with an audited closing statement of the benefits account.

Benefits accounts must be kept confidential. Account balances and activities in a benefits account may only be disclosed to the beneficiary, to the beneficiary's parent or guardian, to a court-appointed guardian, to the beneficiary's youth attorney, or by court order.

The Department is not liable for any delays by the Federal Social Security Administration in processing and disbursing a beneficiary's benefits and must not be required to take steps to recoup losses as a result of those delays. The department is responsible for maintaining and managing only the benefits received by the Department on behalf of a beneficiary during the time that the Department is the beneficiary's representative payee.

By October 1, 2025, the Department must, in collaboration with the Department of Finance and Administration, adopt rules in accordance with the State Rules Act for the implementation and administration of the provisions of the Children's Benefits Account Act.



 

Current Law:

 The Children’s Code does not currently include the requirements, guidelines or allowances as proposed in the Children’s Benefits Account Act.