Bill would require Nevada child-welfare agencies to preserve federal benefits for foster children

Senate Bill 284 was presented May 5 to the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services as a package of changes to how Nevada child-welfare agencies handle federal benefits for children in foster care.

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, sponsor of the bill, told the committee the measure would require agencies that provide child-welfare services to determine within 60 days whether each child in their custody is eligible for federal benefits through the Social Security Administration or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and to apply promptly on the child’s behalf if the child is eligible but not receiving those benefits.

The bill would require agencies that serve as a representative payee to establish accounts that do not jeopardize a child’s eligibility for federal or state benefits — for example, special needs trusts, pooled trusts, or ABLE accounts — and to meet regularly with the child and the child’s attorney to discuss use and conservation of benefits. Cannizzaro said the agency must “inform the child concerning any actions necessary for the child to continue to be eligible to receive benefits after their eighteenth birthday” and provide financial counseling for children age 14 and older.

The bill sets periodic oversight requirements: a representative payee must perform an accounting at least every six months and provide that documentation to the child, any parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, the child’s attorney and the court. If an agency is denied status as representative payee, the agency must consult with the attorney for the child and appeal the denial if doing so is in the child’s best interest. The bill also requires agencies to assess no earlier than 18 months and no later than 12 months before a child’s 18th birthday what the child must do to continue receiving benefits after reaching majority.

Sponsor remarks and testimony described the policy goal as preserving funds meant for the child rather than having them absorbed by the cost of foster care. “This money is intended to be used to pay for any services provided for the child,” Cannizzaro said, and the bill would create “boundaries or safeguards to ensure [a child’s] financial stability when they age out of the foster care system.” Jonathan Norman of the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers, who represented Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and Northern Nevada Legal Aid during testimony, said the bill “will…allow federal and state benefits to remain with and be used by the child” and cited growing bipartisan interest in similar laws in other states.

Supporters who testified included Alejandro Rodriguez of the Nevada System of Higher Education, who said SB 284 would help students who experienced foster care access financial aid and stay enrolled; and Carissa Pierce of Children’s Advocacy Alliance, which backed the bill on the grounds that it helps foster youth who are disabled or who have lost a parent. There were no callers in opposition, and no formal committee vote was recorded in the transcript.

Key implementation and timing details in the bill include a delayed effective date: after discussions with county agencies, sponsors agreed to postpone implementation by six months to Jan. 1, 2026 to give agencies time to prepare and to reduce fiscal impacts. The bill also requires the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to close certain trust-fund accounts by July 1, 2025 and, where DCFS was the representative payee, to remit or transfer balances into accounts established under the bill’s provisions. County agencies in counties with populations of 100,000 or more are required to take similar actions for county trust funds.

No formal action was recorded at the May 5 hearing; the committee opened and closed the bill hearing after testimony.