HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	117
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO IMMEDIATELY CEASE INTERCEPTING SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.

WHEREAS, children in foster care are in critical need of support, including emotional and financial support; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is among forty-nine states that currently intercept social security payments for children in foster care, purportedly to cover the costs of their care; and

WHEREAS, advocates for children have criticized this practice; and

WHEREAS, officials the City of New York recently decided to end this practice, and plan to deposit foster children's' social security payments into savings accounts, which the children may access when they return to their families, are adopted, or age‑out of foster care; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Human Services is requested to immediately cease intercepting social security payments for children in foster care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to deposit social security payments for foster children into savings accounts, which the children may access when they return to their families, are adopted, or age‑out of foster care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of Human Services.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Human Services; Children; Foster Care; Support; Payments; Moneys