Child's social security: family income vs. indiv. income

[Marina]

Child's social security: family income vs. individual income

Before a child is taken into foster care, one child's social security is counted as family income, making other children ineligible for financial assistance. After children are taken, one child's income is not counted as family income and goes with that child, leaving the mother without income.

In Virginia Title IV Policy Manual, one child's social security is counted as family income under Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Somehow, after the children are separated, the other children then become eligible for Title IV-E funding.

Virginia Title IV Foster Care Policy Manual says that Social Services will "generally" become the "representative payee."

Social Services is supposed to inform the court not to order child support if it interferes with reunification. I am sure at this point they don't consider one child's social security as family income.

If this one child's social security was the mother's only source of income, along with food stamps, then there is a risk that she could lose her home if she can't get a job fast enough. Yet if she applies for HUD subsidized housing, she again has to count one child's social security as family income.

If the Court-ordered Foster Care Service Plan says not to count on that one child's social security as family income, and she does not put it on a HUD housing application as family income as instructed, then social services and the court have ordered her to commit a crime.

If she does put it on the application, then she has violated a court-ordered foster plan and risks termination of parental rights.

Courts have decided that social security can go with the child, counting it as individual income. But federal policy still counts it as family income when determining eligibility for various types of financial assistance.

Yet foster care maintenance payments are not counted as family income, for HUD, IRS, and I don't know what all.

Adoption assistance paymens are regarded differently from either of the above.

If we made a scientific experiment, using the child as the independent variable and custody, financial eligibility, etc. as dependent variables, it would make an interesting experiment. The terminology changes like a chameleon. If the mother has custody and the child won't go to school, then this is educational neglect. If the state has custody and the child won't go to school, then he is eligible for Supplementary Security Income for a "disability."

If a child age 16-17 is placed in a mental ward and heavily medicated, because he is a flight risk, because he wasn't allowed to see his mother at Christmas, and escapes the group home, then the child is still considered to be "in school" and still eligible for social security. If he is at home and won't go to school because of emotional problems, etc, then social security will be terminated.


Court case links

Social Security for Foster Care
http://www.law.cornell.edu/socsec/cours ... us_371.htm

Social Security for Foster Care
http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/child/ ... ffeler.htm

[daddyanddede]

MARINA
let me do some reading and studing on this and will get back with you. you see cps has taken all 5 of my childern they all draw money from SS

[Marina]

Virginia Foster Care Policy Manual,
Representative Payee page 54

http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/divis ... manual.pdf

[Marina]

Virginia Title IV-E Policy Manual

Page 25, 26

http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/divis ... manual.pdf


Assistance Unit Composition in the Initial Eligibility Income

Determination - The eligibility worker must determine the members
of the AFDC assistance unit in the removal home to determine the
unit size and the total income that is to be counted as available
in determining Title IV-E eligibility of the child entering care.

a. Child Removed from a Parent
1. If the removal home was the parent's home, include the
income of the child entering foster care, the
parent(s), and siblings residing in the removal home
with the child; .....

The child's AFDC assistance unit must pass the AFDC 185
percent income standard screening for financial need to exist
under the AFDC-relatedness criteria.

2. Countable Earned Income - ........

3. Countable Unearned Income - Unearned income is income received by
an individual for which no service is performed. Sources of
countable unearned income include, but are not limited to:
............

f. Social Security benefits

[Marina]

HUD -- How rent is determined

http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs ... tsheet.pdf

Page 2-3

What Counts as Annual Income for
Calculation of Family Payment?.....

Annual income includes....

The full amount of periodic amounts received
from Social Security......


Annual income does not include the following:....

Payments received for the care of foster
children

Adoption assistance payments in excess of
$480 per adopted child

[Marina]

Virginia Foster Care Policy Manual -- Child Support

http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/divis ... manual.pdf

page 48

If the service worker believes that the collection of support will interfere with the
goal of returning the child home, the worker should inform the court at the
hearing where child support is addressed of those specific concerns. Refer to
Section 5.6.6.

page 50

5.6.6 CLAIMING GOOD CAUSE
IN CASES WHERE THE FOSTER CARE PLAN HAS THE GOAL OF RETURNING
THE CHILD TO THE PARENT(S) AND COLLECTION OF SUPPORT WILL
INTERFERE WITH ACHIEVING THAT GOAL, THE SERVICE WORKER MAY
CLAIM GOOD CAUSE FOR THE PARENT OR PARENTS TO WHOM THE CHILD
IS TO RETURN. Claiming good cause will result in the case not being pursued by
DCSE for collection of support.
A GOOD CAUSE CLAIM SHOULD ONLY BE MADE WHEN THE SUPPORT
COLLECTION WILL INTERFERE WITH THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE PLAN OF
REUNITING THE PARENT(S) AND CHILD, RESULTING IN EMOTIONAL HARM
TO THE CHILD. For example, a good cause claim may be made when the
parent(s) situation results in the parent(s) possessing such limited financial
resources that support collection would interfere with the parent(s) ability to meet
conditions set forth in the foster care service plan or by the court and delay or
prevent the child's return home. Homelessness, living in substandard housing,
participation in full time mental health or substance abuse treatment programs, or
serious illness are situations that could result in a good cause claim.
A GOOD CAUSE CLAIM IS NOT MADE FOR THE PARENT TO WHOM THE
CHILD WILL NOT BE RETURNED.
GOOD CAUSE IS CLAIMED WHEN A PARENT SIGNS A PERMANENT
ENTRUSTMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION OR
PARENTAL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN TERMINATED.
The service worker has the following responsibilities:

�� If the service worker believes that the collection of support will interfere with the
goal of returning the child home, the worker should inform the court at the
hearing where child support is addressed of those specific concerns. The court
will determine the support amount.
�� When completing the Absent Parent Deprivation/Paternity Information Form, if
good cause is claimed, the worker indicates the reason for claiming good cause.
�� If, after the court has ordered support or DCSE has determined a support
amount, the support collection interferes with the goal of return home; the
worker may stop the support collection by claiming good cause. The worker
completes the Good Cause Determination Form (032-03-035) for each parent
for whom good cause is claimed. The form is submitted to the eligibility worker
who is responsible for forwarding it to DCSE. DCSE will stop pursuing support
once good cause is claimed. For those cases where support is court ordered,
DCSE regulations allow the local agency to claim good cause without obtaining
court permission. The local agency should consult with its court to determine
whether the court wants to approve changes in court ordered support or be
notified when the agency claims good cause.
�� If the court has determined at the initial hearing that support collection will
interfere with goal of return home and has ordered that the parent(s) pay no
support, the agency must petition the court to order support when the parent(s)'
situation improves and the collection of support no longer interferes with the goal
of return home.
�� Once good cause is claimed, at each eligibility redetermination, the service
worker is to notify the eligibility worker in writing whether good cause continues
to exist.
5.6.7 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ELIGIBILITY WORKER
�� The Title IV-E eligibility worker is responsible for ensuring that information
provided by the service worker is provided to DCSE for the Title IV-E eligible
child. The Medicaid worker is responsible for forwarding the Absent Parent
Deprivation/Paternity Information Form to DCSE for non-Title IV-E children.
�� The eligibility worker is responsible for notifying DCSE at each eligibility
redetermination on the status of the good cause claim. The service worker is
responsible for evaluating whether good cause exists.
5.6.8 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT
The Division of Child Support Enforcement will ensure the establishment of paternity
where necessary, the establishment of a child support order where none exists, the
establishment and enforcement of health care coverage and the collection of
support for children upon receiving the referral where good cause does not exist.

[Marina]

Medicaid eligibility counts social security as income

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504 ... AC5-200-10

"Gross income"

"They include regular payments from social security"