The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Nov. 9, 2026, released a report finding that only half of states submit monthly data to the Social Security Administration to help identify payees for children in foster care.
The Social Security Administration appoints representative payees to manage benefits for eligible children. According to the report, payees managed over $270 million in Social Security benefits for roughly 44,000 children in foster care during fiscal year 2025. Children receiving benefits, such as disability payments, typically have these funds managed by a representative. When a child enters or leaves the foster care system, the agency may need to assign a new payee to manage the money.
A 2018 federal law called for the agency to establish agreements with states to collect monthly foster care data. As of July 2026, 25 states participated in the data exchanges, and no new states have joined since 2024, the report said. The government watchdog found that officials from four of eight selected states that do not submit data had minimal awareness of the program. The agency has not changed its state outreach efforts, which limits the number of covered beneficiaries.
The data exchanges generate alerts when a beneficiary enters or exits foster care, or when their placement changes. The system produced more than 50,000 alerts in fiscal year 2025. Field office staff told the accountability office that each alert provided limited information, leading to time-consuming research. Staff also said many alerts do not actually require a change in payee.
The report noted that field office staff have ideas to improve the system, such as using artificial intelligence tools and including more information like payee email addresses in the alerts. However, the agency has not sought input from field staff or provided a method for them to share practices with each other.
The accountability office made seven recommendations to the Social Security Administration. These include developing a targeted outreach plan for non-participating states, collecting input from field office staff, and adding automated data validation checks. Another recommendation directs the agency to assess its 30-day standard for closing foster care alerts by gathering data on closure times. The Social Security Administration agreed with all seven recommendations.