Section 50 Benefits Owed to Foster Children (ABLE Accounts) 2

Said chapter 119 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 23C the following section:-
Section 23D. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Benefits", (i) supplemental security income benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act; (ii) retirement, survivors or disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act; and (iii) other federal benefits.
"Representative payee or fiduciary", any person or entity designated to receive benefits for a minor child or young adult under the agency rules governing such benefits.
(b) Not more than 60 days after a child is committed to the custody of the department including, but not limited to, placement in foster care under a voluntary placement agreement or court-ordered custody arrangement, the department shall make all reasonable efforts to identify whether the child is receiving or may be eligible to receive benefits. In reviewing eligibility, the department shall consult with the parents and other individuals who may have information about the child's eligibility. If the department determines, or has cause to believe, that the child may be eligible for benefits, it shall apply for benefits on the child's behalf. If the agency administering such benefits denies the application, the department may appeal the decision as permitted by the agency administering the benefits. The department shall review cases of children in foster care annually to determine whether the child may have become eligible for benefits after the initial assessment determined them to be ineligible or whether the child may be eligible for new benefits after the initial assessment. The department shall seek federal foster care reimbursement for a child only if such reimbursement will not impact the child's eligibility for benefits or the dollar amount of benefits.
(c) The department may apply to be the representative payee or fiduciary of a child under its care and custody if the child is already receiving benefits prior to entering the department's custody. The department may also apply to be the representative payee or fiduciary if the department is applying for benefits for the child. The department shall consider whether applying to become the child's representative payee or fiduciary under this section will undermine the goal of reunification and not be in the child's best interests.
(d) The department shall provide timely notice to counsel for a child in its care and custody and the counsel for the parent, parents or legal guardian or guardians of the child of: (i) the department's submission of an application for benefits on the child's behalf; (ii) the department's submission of a request to become the child's representative payee or fiduciary; (iii) the decision of an agency received by the department regarding benefits including denial, termination or reduction in benefits; (iv) the department's decision on whether to appeal an adverse benefits eligibility determination; (v) the outcome of any appeal filed in response to a benefits eligibility determination; and (vi) the department's receipt of any notice of an eligibility redetermination.
No notice shall be provided to a parent for whom a decree to dispense with consent to adoption has been entered under paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of section 26.
(e) The department shall maintain an accounting of a child's benefits when the department is the child's representative payee or fiduciary and shall make current accounting information available to the child's counsel electronically or by other means. The accounting information shall include: (i) the amount and source of benefits collected by the department and credited to any account maintained on behalf of the child; (ii) the balance of any account maintained on behalf of the child; (iii) any amounts deducted by the department and the reasons for the deductions; and (iv) information regarding all the child's assets and resources, including benefits, insurance, cash assets, trust accounts and earnings if such assets or resources are controlled by the department. The department shall provide such accounting information to the court at permanency hearings, at other court proceedings, as necessary, or upon request.
(f) The department shall not use a child's benefits to reimburse the commonwealth for the child's placement in foster care if the department is the child's representative payee or fiduciary. The department shall ensure that if the child is receiving supplemental security income benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, any funds retained on the child's behalf are kept in a manner that does not exceed any federal asset or resource limit that would affect the child's eligibility to continue receiving such benefits. Benefits held by the department as a representative payee or fiduciary may be spent on the child's unmet needs, which would not ordinarily be funded by another source, subject to program rules for the use of such benefits, or otherwise conserved for the child. For a child who is a recipient of supplemental security income or other federal means-tested benefits with an asset or resource limit, the department shall conserve any funds that are above the federal asset or resource limits for such benefits in an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account, authorized by 26 U.S.C. 529A, as amended or another account for the child determined not to interfere with federal asset or resource limits for any other federal means-tested benefit program. For a child who is not receiving supplemental security income or other federal means-tested benefits with an asset or resource limit, the department shall place excess funds in an interest-bearing account or other savings or investment vehicle for the benefit of the child. The department shall keep retroactive benefits received if the department is the child's representative payee or fiduciary as required by the program rules of the agency administering such benefits.
(g) The department shall take steps to conserve the benefits of children under its care and custody who are receiving benefits to assist them in the transition to adulthood and living independently. The department shall establish accounts as specified in subsection (f) in conserving a child's benefits. The department shall work actively with the agency administering such benefits and the child to ensure that when the child leaves foster care, becomes eligible for direct payment or another representative payee is identified, all payments of benefits or conserved funds will be: (i) returned to the agency following program rules; or (ii) upon agreement by the agency, if necessary, transferred to the child or to a new representative payee or fiduciary.
(h) The department shall provide a child under its care and custody who is not less than 14 years old and the child's legal counsel with ongoing financial information regarding the eligibility for benefits, as well as the existence, amount, availability, past use and limitations of funds conserved for the child; provided, however, that such information shall be tailored to the individual child based on age and other factors. For a youth not less than 17 years of age, financial information shall also include basic guidance on and assistance with understanding budgeting and money management, including checking and savings accounts, tailored to the youth.
(i) The department shall provide each child under its care and custody who has attained the age of 14 years with ongoing financial literacy training and support and tailored to the child based on age and other factors. Financial literacy and support may include, but not be limited to, information on: (i) budgeting; (ii) money management; (iii) informed decision-making; (iv) banking, checking and savings accounts; (v) credit card counseling; (vi) managing debt; (vii) planning for financial security and stability; (viii) financing options for post-secondary education or training; (ix) long term asset-building; and (x) available community and agency services. Financial literacy resources concerning the use of conserved funds shall also be made available to all parents, guardians and adoptive parents who gain access to funds conserved by the department.
(j) Annually, the department shall submit a report to the senate and house committees on ways and means, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities, the clerks of the senate and house of representative and the secretary of administration and finance. The report shall include: (i) the numbers of children in the department's care and custody receiving benefits for which the department is the representative payee or fiduciary; (ii) the numbers of children in the department's care or custody who are receiving supplemental security income, retirement, survivors or disability insurance or other federal benefits; (iii) the dollar amount of benefits being conserved by the department; (iv) the number and type of accounts established by the department on behalf of such children; and (v) to the extent such data is available, the number of children in the department's care or custody: (A) who were screened for eligibility for benefits and whether such screening occurred within 60 days of being committed to the department's custody, and if not, the date of the screening and reason for the delay; (B) who were already receiving benefits after screening; and (C) for whom the department submitted applications for benefits, by type of application, and the outcome of those applications, including the number of appeals filed; provided, however, that if such data is not available, the department shall provide information regarding its ongoing efforts to gather and report upon such information.
(k) The department shall continue to administer the benefits of young adults aged 18 to 22, inclusive, for whom the department was previously appointed representative payee or fiduciary, subject to the same requirements set forth in subsections (b) to (i), inclusive, and subject to the young adult's consent. The department shall continue to provide financial literacy training under subsection (i) to young adults who become eligible for direct payment of benefits and continue to receive young adult services from the department.
(l) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement this section.