Kansas executive order directs DCF to preserve foster youths’ federal benefits, phase out agency use by July 1

The Kansas governor's executive order 2501 directs the Department for Children and Families to stop using federal survivor and disability benefits to reimburse the state for foster-care maintenance and to preserve those funds for the children who are eligible. Secretary Laura Howard said the agency will create ABLE and other accounts to hold benefits that exceed the $2,000 asset limit and phase out the prior practice by July 1.

Why it matters: Committee members and advocates said preserved benefits can help youth who age out of foster care pay for housing, education and other needs. Witnesses urged the Legislature to codify the change and to provide state budget support for services and implementation costs.

Secretary Laura Howard, head of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, told the House Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care that the change will "conserve" funds for youth and that DCF will "screen children for eligibility" and serve as the initial representative payee in many cases while transitioning accounts at permanency. Howard said Kansas identified about 950 children who currently receive federal benefits, "just under 400" who receive survivor benefits and "about 488" who receive disability benefits, with roughly $9,000,000 in federal cash benefits that had been used to offset foster-care costs (about 3% of the foster-care budget).

Advocates framed the order as a correction of past…