GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Child and Family Services Agency

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

September 11, 2020

The Honorable David Grosso

Chairperson, Education Committee
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Suite 504
Washington, D.C. 20004

Dear Councilmember Grosso:

The DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) has reviewed The ABLE Accounts for Youth
in Care Amendment Act of 2020 and The Overpayment of Benefits Amendment Act of 2020 Bills
that were introduced before the DC Council on July 31, 2020. My staff and I have a few
questions and concerns and would like to find a time to talk with you and your team about these
bills.

In preparation for our meeting, I have outlined a few of our concerns as follows:

I. Bill 23-880 – The ABLE Accounts for Youth in Care Amendment Act of 2020

Based on our analysis, the proposed Bill requires CFSA to:

1. Assist foster youth who are receiving social security disability insurance (SSDI) benefits
and Medicaid with opening an ABLE savings account;
2. Contribute $50 monthly, as funds permit, as an incentive for the youth to open an ABLE
savings account; and
3. Provide foster youth with financial literacy lessons including information on ABLE
accounts and other savings options.
We want to make sure that you are aware that the Federal government already permits such
accounts. Our first question is whether it was your intention to mirror the Federal act. In
addition, we would like more clarity on the following:

1. Who is Eligible? At what age will youth be eligible? Will only youth who receive both
SSDI and Medicaid be eligible?
2. Who will manage the ABLE account? Having an ABLE account during and after foster
care would require someone to monitor the use of the funds in the account. Since they

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 can only be used for “disability expenses” per the legislation— while an eligible youth is
in care, who would be required to monitor the account and how would it be monitored?

Under the Federal act, an eligible youth must meet the following criteria:

The disability was present before the age of 26; and one of the following is true:

1. You are eligible for SSI or SSDI because of a disability;

2. You experience blindness as determined by the Social Security Act; OR
3. You have a similarly severe disability with a written diagnosis from a licensed
physician that can be produced if requested.
Since an ABLE account may be established for infants who meet the above-mentioned criteria, it
is unclear at this time, whether the proposed Bill will require CFSA to assist the eligible youth
with opening an ABLE account upon entering foster care. In addition, the Bill requires CFSA to
provide all foster youth with financial literacy lessons and information about opening an ABLE
account and other savings options such as CFSA’s Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB) savings
account which is currently offered to foster youth beginning at the age of 15. Currently, CFSA
provides financial literacy lessons to foster youth who participate in CAAB. We agree that foster
youth should receive financial literacy lessons. However, we believe it is more beneficial to
provide financial literacy lessons to older youth when they are mature enough to understand
financial consequences so that they are able to learn how to make sound financial decisions as
they move towards exiting foster care.

Without a better understanding of the intent behind this proposed bill, CFSA is unable to
determine how many children would be impacted and to provide a financial impact statement. In
addition, we have questions and concerns about the financial literacy requirements and would
like to understand your intent in order to ensure we can best implement this bill should it become
law.

II. Bill 23-881 – The Overpayment of Benefits for Youth in Care Amendment Act of
2020

Based on our analysis, the proposed Bill will require CFSA to:

1. Update a foster youth’s income status with the Social Security Administration (SSA)
whenever there is a change in income status prior to the youth reaching the age of 18 or
becoming his or her own payee;
2. Be responsible for any overpayments of Social Security Insurance (SSI) or SSDI resulting
from the failure to update the income status of a youth in custody.
Regarding this proposed Bill, we would like to understand the problem this bill intends to solve.
CFSA is unaware of any issues involving how CFSA addresses overpayments of SSI and SSDI,
and we are trying to understand why legislation would be necessary.

The federal Strengthening Protections Act (HR 4547 – The Strengthening Protections for Social
Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018) already mandates that CFSA report any changes in a youth’s
income during the time when CFSA is the payee while the youth is in foster care. Whether or
not CFSA is aware that a youth’s income has increased, the Strengthening Protections Act
requires that if CFSA fails to report any increases in income, the SSA will notify CFSA of any
overpayment and CFSA will take responsibility for the overpayment. CFSA is in compliance
with this federal mandate.

In addition, we would like more clarity on the following issues:

1. Clarification of when CFSA will be responsible. The Bill requires that CFSA resolve
all SSI and SSDI overpayments that occurred while the youth was in CFSA’s care. CFSA
should only be responsible for reporting income changes and overpayments when CFSA
is the payee.
2. Clarification on how CFSA is responsible for the overpayment. The Bill is unclear as
to whom CFSA would be required to pay for an overpayment. When CFSA is responsible
for overpayments, CFSA is required to repay the overpayments to the SSA. CFSA should
not be required to reimburse former or current foster youth for any out of pocket
payments or to personally compensate them for the reduction in their SSI or SSDI when
CFSA was not the payee.
3. Financial Impact. Additionally, it is impossible to know the cost of the bill since we do
not know how many former foster youth have had to make repayments to SSA and how
much the overpayments are for this undetermined number of youth.
We look forward to meeting with you and your staff to discuss further. Interim General Counsel,
Nicola Grey will reach out to your staff to schedule a follow up meeting.

Regards,

Brenda Donald
Director

cc: The Honorable Brianne K. Nadeau

Raleigh Lancaster, Senior Legislative Counsel, Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau
Darby Hickey, Senior Legislative Advisor, Councilmember David Grosso
Robert Matthews, Principal Deputy Director
Rachel Joseph, Chief of Staff
Nicola Grey, Interim General Counsel