Neb. senators advance bill ending state use of foster youths’ Social Security for care costs

Senator Megan Hunt advanced an amendment and the A bill version of LB275A Wednesday to limit the state's practice of using foster youths' Social Security benefits to pay for their care.

The bill's sponsor, Senator Megan Hunt, said the amended language reduces administrative burdens on the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, halves required conserved amounts compared with the original draft, and "maximized the department's drawdown of federal title 9 e funds available to states for foster care maintenance payments and administrative costs." Hunt said the changes restore broader authority for the department to use a youth's benefits "so long as they are used in the child's best interest."

In opening, Hunt said the practice takes Social Security benefits that belong to foster youth and uses them to pay for the cost of their care "which of course, no other foster youth do we do that to" and that the benefits "are for those kids." The senator noted a new, smaller fiscal note tied to the amendment: general fund expenditures of $958,512 for fiscal year 2026-27. She also pointed to a recent Missouri law banning the practice as context for the policy direction.

Supporters and the bill sponsor said the amended bill reduces the highest costs from the original fiscal note while preserving the intent to save a percentage of funds for youth when they leave care. The legislative clerk recorded the advancement vote as 36 ayes, no nays on the motion to advance LB275A to E & R initial.

The bill will return on select file for further action and debate as part of the legislature's process.