CIA staff forward the current monthly SSI or Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance (RSDI) to the child’s caregiver when the situation meets the following criteria:

• The child resides with a kinship caregiver or other unpaid caretaker who is not the child’s parent.
• DFPS retains conservatorship.

Kinship care does not create a credit-debt relationship between any parties. If DFPS receives an SSI or RSDI lump sum, DFPS does not issue any of the lump sum to the caregiver even when the child resided with that caregiver for the specific months the lump sum covers. Further, SSA policy is that a payee is not even required to repay a beneficiary’s past debt unless that debt involves an SSA overpayment, IRS levy, or certain income garnishments applicable to adults. Instead, staff uses the lump sum for the child’s appropriate needs and conserves the remaining funds if the child’s resources will not total over $2,000. The CIA unit tracks the child’s account balance to ensure the child’s resources will not be over the SSA resource limit.