BOISE, ID – An Idaho House of Representatives committee on Monday advanced a bill to codify a policy to protect Social Security and veteran’s survivor benefits for foster youth.
House Bill 558 would prohibit the state from collecting a foster child’s survivor’s benefits on their behalf and using them to pay for the child’s care.
Between July 2021 and May 2025, the state of Idaho collected nearly $2.3 million of Social Security payments on behalf of 326 foster children, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Many states have done the same.
Last May, then-Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams issued an agency directive to change its practice, and instead conserve those funds on behalf of the youth and to make it available to them upon their exit from foster care.
Adams went on to be nominated and confirmed to a deputy secretary position in President Donald Trump’s administration. As head of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, Adams in December encouraged the 39 states that had not yet ended the practice to do so, the Sun reported.
HB 558 sponsor Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, said Monday the bill creates a new law to enact the existing agency policy to ensure the state “is not robbing those funds.”
The bill would require Health and Welfare to determine whether foster children are eligible to receive federal survivor’s benefits from Social Security or the Department of Veterans Affairs. If the child is eligible, the agency would be required to consult with the child and the child’s attorney to identify a representative payee of those benefits, or the state would become the payee “if no other suitable candidate is available.”
If the state became the representative payee of the child, the agency would be required to establish and maintain an appropriate account to conserve those funds for “current unmet needs and future needs.”
The state would need to annually review whether someone else could be a qualified payee on behalf of that child. Upon reaching certain milestones, such as receiving a high school diploma or enrolling in higher education or vocational training, foster youth could access their benefits.
The state would be prohibited from using the funds for costs associated with the cost of the child’s care.
The House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday unanimously voted to send the bill to the House floor, where it may be considered by the entire chamber.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
