Committee advances bill to protect certain federal benefits for children in state care
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Summary
The House Families and Children Committee advanced HB 669, which would require the cabinet to search for and preserve federal benefits due to children in out‑of‑home care, deposit those funds in accounts for the child and allow milestone‑based partial access; the measure passed committee 15‑0.
The House standing committee on Families and Children advanced House Bill 669 on a 15‑0 roll call after the sponsor described the measure as a fix to a possible injustice affecting children in state care.
Speaker Pro Tem Mead, who presented the bill, told the committee the measure addresses cases in which Social Security survivor, death or disability benefits and other federal benefits that belong to a child in out‑of‑home care have been taken by the state to cover care costs. "This money is supposed to be going for the child's future," Mead said, and HB 669 would require the cabinet to determine within 60 days whether a child may qualify for those benefits and, if so, place them in an account for the child.
Under the substitute adopted by the committee, the cabinet must conduct eligibility checks and establish an account and program that allows milestone‑based access. Mead described examples of milestones that could permit partial withdrawal — turning 16 for a driver’s license or vehicle, graduating or age 18, or when a youth leaves the system for college or other reasons — and said the cabinet would set program rules and milestones.
Representative Stocker pressed for detail on custodianship and the timing of annual eligibility reviews. Stocker noted that many benefits are already overseen by a parent or other custodian and asked whether existing custodians would retain oversight if parental rights were not terminated. "It could be the parent, legal guardian, whoever it is," Mead replied, adding that if no suitable custodian exists "the cabinet can fill that role until they find someone," and must transfer authority once a suitable person is located. On annual reviews, Mead said the cabinet would promulgate rules to determine when the review occurs.
Representative Bozanowski said she met with young adults who had been in foster care and that those young people supported milestone‑based access, and she announced her support for the bill.
The committee adopted the house committee substitute and, by roll call, gave HB 669 a favorable expression to the House floor. The chair announced the vote passed 15 to 0.
