Comment from Emerson, Debra , Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

The Texas Department of Family Services (DFPS) agrees the changes the Social Security Administration (SSA) is proposing may assist in protecting beneficiaries from physical abuse or neglect and from financial exploitation. Further, as to SSA’s question Number 5, “Are there any additional groups to whom the prohibition should or should not apply?”, SSA should consider not applying the mandatory prohibition to individuals who are custodial court-appointed legal guardians of a child who exits foster care. Making SSA benefits available to court-appointed guardians is critical to ensure the child’s needs are sufficiently met and that the placement does not fail due to financial issues. When a child is in foster care both the state agency and the court considers, among other factors, the criminal history of the person as related to their ability to safely care for the child before that person is appointed the guardian. Further if SSA incorporates the practices of the pilot nationwide, SSA has the discretion to consider various factors to determine if the court-appointment guardian would most likely be a suitable payee, thus allowing another mechanism to help ensure that the child is safe.