Income in Excess of the Placement

When a child or youth has “available” income in excess of the placement costs (e.g., SSI, SSP, Social Security or VA benefits), there is no eligibility for FC funding, however, court dependency may still be active. When the child is court dependent and the benefits exceed the FC rate, benefits are used for costs relating to the FC placement. Thus, a FC case must be opened and a request for county funds must be obtained to approve the case. The income is abated against the FC grant. The excess may be maintained is a CSP account and passed-on by the SWC under the direction of the assigned SW/PO to the caregiver for the child’s needs.

Note: When the youth is receiving SSI benefits and elects to become their own payee at the age of 18 and is a NMD, the eligibility case will be closed. Refer to Youth Over the 18 Years Old Becoming Their Own Payee for SSA or SSI Benefits.

Under no circumstances should the balance of the CSP account exceed the resource limit for SSI eligibility. When the income is approaching the limit the SWC and the assigned SW/PO must coordinate the distribution of the excess.

When the child or youth is receiving RSDI benefits, there is no income limit set by SSA, however, there is a resource limit of $10,000 to be eligible for FC or ARC. Any RSDI benefits retained in the child account that exceed the resource limit must be transferred to a “Block Account” (Maintenance of Benefits) or returned to SSA.

When the income exceeds the FC rate, the maximum FC rate is paid the and the excess is passed-on to the caregiver. The FC EW must request a “Placement Expense” (SCZ 414Z) from the assigned SW/PO, approved by SFU authorizing county funds. This will allow the benefits to be abated against the cost of placement and any excess passed-on to the caregiver.

The SWC is required to monitor and maintain the balance is the account but must not act as a keeper of the funds. It is a joint effort between the SW/PO and the SWC to agree to disburse any excess funds maintained in a court dependent (including wards) child’s account. The SWC must not deny the disbursement of funds unless the request for distribution is in violation of SSA policy. When in doubt, the SWC must contact SSA for an authorization; the request and the response must be clearly documented in the child’s file. A copy of the request and response must be sent to the assigned SW/PO.

Related Topics

Social Security Administration Benefits