When a youth who is aging out of DFPS-paid substitute care still needs care and supervision in adulthood as the result of a disability, the youth’s caseworker arranges for the care and supervision to begin as soon as the youth ages out of substitute care. (See 10340 Preparation for Long-Term Care or Support in Adulthood for Youth with Disabilities.) If an existing source of income is available to pay for the youth’s continuing care in adulthood, the caseworker coordinates with any necessary entity or person for the income to be used for the cost of that care.

A youth with disabilities retains his or her Social Security Administration disability determinations when he or she turns 18, and his or her eligibility for supplemental security income (SSI); Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI); and Veterans Administration (VA) benefits usually continues. The Social Security Administration is responsible for assigning a protective payee for a youth’s benefits when the youth turns 18. If the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) assumes guardianship of a youth in extended foster care, DFPS continues to be the representative payee of the youth’s SSA benefit while the youth remains in extended foster care.