IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4547 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2018 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 
AN ACT 
To amend titles II, VIII, and XVI of the Social Security 
Act to improve and strengthen the representative pay-
ment program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Protec-
tions for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
TITLE I—STRENGTHENING OVERSIGHT AND BENEFICIARY 
PROTECTION 
Sec. 101. Stronger monitoring of representative payees. 
Sec. 102. Reducing the burden on families. 
Sec. 103. Protecting beneficiaries through information sharing. 
Sec. 104. Clarifying overpayment liability for child in child welfare system. 
Sec. 105. Reports. 
TITLE II—IMPROVING PAYEE SELECTION AND QUALITY 
Sec. 201. Advance designation of representative payees. 
Sec. 202. Prohibition on individuals convicted of certain crimes serving as rep-
resentative payees. 
Sec. 203. Prohibition on individuals with representative payees serving as rep-
resentative payees. 
Sec. 204. Reassessment of payee selection and replacement policies. 
TITLE 
I—STRENGTHENING 
OVERSIGHT 
AND 
BENE-
FICIARY PROTECTION 
SEC. 101. STRONGER MONITORING OF REPRESENTATIVE 
PAYEES. 
(a) PROTECTION
AND
ADVOCACY
FOR
BENE-
FICIARIES
WITH
REPRESENTATIVE
PAYEES.—Section 
205(j)(6) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(6)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C)(i) The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
make annual grants directly to the protection and advo-
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cacy system serving each of the States and the American 
Indian consortium for the purpose of conducting reviews 
of representative payees in accordance with this subpara-
graph. The total amount used by the Commissioner for 
such grants each year— 
‘‘(I) shall be an amount sufficient, as deter-
mined by the Commissioner in consultation with 
each of the protection and advocacy systems, to 
carry out all of the activities described in clause (ii); 
and 
‘‘(II) shall not be less than $25,000,000. 
‘‘(ii) A protection and advocacy system awarded a 
grant under this subparagraph shall use the grant funds 
to— 
‘‘(I) conduct all periodic onsite reviews pursu-
ant to this paragraph and such other reviews of rep-
resentative payees as the Commissioner may request, 
including reviews conducted in response to allega-
tions or concerns about the performance or suit-
ability of the payee; 
‘‘(II) conduct additional reviews that the pro-
tection and advocacy system has reason to believe 
are warranted; 
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‘‘(III) develop corrective action plans to assist 
representative payees in conforming to requirements 
specified by the Commissioner; 
‘‘(IV) submit a report to the Commissioner on 
each completed review containing such information 
as the Commissioner shall require; and 
‘‘(V) conduct an initial onsite assessment of any 
organization that begins collecting a fee for its serv-
ices as a representative payee to ensure that such 
organization is established as such a representative 
payee in accordance with requirements specified by 
the Commissioner. 
A protection and advocacy system may refer beneficiaries 
to other programs or services as the protection and advo-
cacy system considers appropriate. 
‘‘(iii) To be eligible to receive grants under this sec-
tion, a protection and advocacy system shall submit an 
initial application to the Commissioner at such time, in 
such form and manner, and accompanied by such informa-
tion and assurances as the Commissioner may require. 
‘‘(iv)(I) Subject to subclause (II), the Commissioner 
shall ensure that any funds used for grants under clause 
(i) shall be allocated to the protection and advocacy sys-
tems serving each of the States and the American Indian 
consortium in a manner such that the amount provided 
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to each protection and advocacy system bears the same 
ratio to the total of such funds as the number of rep-
resented beneficiaries in the State or American Indian 
consortium in which such protection and advocacy system 
is located bears to the total number of represented bene-
ficiaries. 
‘‘(II) The amount of an annual grant to a protection 
and advocacy system under clause (i) shall— 
‘‘(aa) in the case of a protection and advocacy 
system serving American Samoa, Guam, the United 
States Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, or the American Indian 
consortium, not be less than $30,000; and 
‘‘(bb) in the case of a protection and advocacy 
system serving any other State, not be less than 
$60,000. 
‘‘(III) Funds provided to a protection and advocacy 
system through a grant under clause (i) for a 1-year pe-
riod shall remain available through the end of the fol-
lowing 1-year period. 
‘‘(IV) For purposes of this clause, the term ‘rep-
resented beneficiary’ means an individual— 
‘‘(aa) who is entitled to benefits under this title, 
title VIII, or title XVI; and 
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‘‘(bb) whose benefits have been certified for 
payment to a representative payee. 
‘‘(v)(I) The Commissioner shall make annual grants, 
in an amount equal to 4 percent of the total amount of 
grants awarded each year under clause (i), to an eligible 
national association for the provision of training and tech-
nical assistance, administrative support, and data collec-
tion services to protection and advocacy systems in con-
nection with grants awarded under clause (i). 
‘‘(II) In this clause, the term ‘eligible national asso-
ciation’ means a national disability association with exten-
sive knowledge and demonstrated experience in providing 
training, technical assistance, and administrative oversight 
to protection and advocacy systems that monitor rep-
resentative payees. 
‘‘(vi) In conducting reviews under this section, a pro-
tection and advocacy system shall have the same authori-
ties, including access to records, facilities, and persons, as 
such system would have for purposes of providing services 
under subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities 
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 
15041 et seq.). 
‘‘(vii) Whenever benefit amounts under this title are 
increased by any percentage effective with any month after 
November 2018 as a result of a determination made under 
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section 215(i), each of the dollar amounts specified in 
clauses (i)(II) and (iv)(II) shall be increased by the same 
percentage. 
‘‘(viii) No additional funds are authorized to be ap-
propriated to carry out the requirements of this subpara-
graph. Such requirements shall be carried out using 
amounts otherwise authorized. 
‘‘(ix) In this subparagraph: 
‘‘(I) The term ‘American Indian consortium’ 
means a consortium established under subtitle C of 
title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance 
and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et 
seq.). 
‘‘(II) The term ‘protection and advocacy sys-
tem’ means a protection and advocacy system estab-
lished under subtitle C of title I of the Develop-
mental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 
of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.). 
‘‘(III) The term ‘State’ means the several 
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 
States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands.’’. 
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(b) EXPANSION OF PERIODIC ONSITE REVIEW RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Section 205(j)(6)(A) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(6)(A)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’; 
(2) in clause (iii), by striking the period and in-
serting ‘‘; or’’; 
(3) by adding after clause (iii) the following: 
‘‘(iv) the representative payee collects a fee for 
its services.’’; and 
(4) by adding after clause (iv) (as added by 
paragraph (3)) the following flush text: 
‘‘The Commissioner shall also conduct periodic onsite re-
views of individual and organizational payees, including 
payees who are related to the beneficiary and primarily 
reside in the same household, selected on the basis of risk- 
factors for potential misuse or unsuitability associated 
with such payees or beneficiaries.’’. 
(c) AVAILABILITY OF GRANT FUNDS.— 
(1) 
PROTECTION
AND
ADVOCACY
SYSTEM 
GRANTS.—Grants described under clause (i) of sub-
paragraph (C) of section 205(j)(6) of the Social Se-
curity Act (as added by subsection (a)) shall be 
awarded on August 1, 2018, and annually there-
after, and funds provided by such grants to a protec-
tion and advocacy system may be used to reimburse 
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the protection and advocacy system for amounts ex-
pended by the protection and advocacy system dur-
ing the period beginning on May 1, 2018, and end-
ing on such date for hiring and start-up costs in 
preparation to carry out reviews of representative 
payees in accordance with such subparagraph. 
(2) NATIONAL ASSOCIATION GRANTS.—Grants 
described under clause (v) of such subparagraph 
shall be awarded on May 1, 2018, and annually 
thereafter. 
SEC. 102. REDUCING THE BURDEN ON FAMILIES. 
(a) TITLE II.—Section 205(j)(3) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(3)) is amended— 
(1) 
by 
redesignating 
subparagraphs 
(D) 
through (G) as subparagraphs (E) through (H), re-
spectively; 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(D)(i) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply 
in any case where the other person to whom 
such payment is made is— 
‘‘(I) a parent, or other individual 
who is a legal guardian of, a minor 
child entitled to such payment who 
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primarily resides in the same house-
hold; 
‘‘(II) a parent of an individual 
entitled to such payment who is under 
a disability (as defined in section 
223(d)) who primarily resides in the 
same household; or 
‘‘(III) the spouse of the indi-
vidual entitled to such payment. 
‘‘(ii) The Commissioner of Social Security 
shall establish and implement procedures as 
necessary for the Commissioner to determine 
the eligibility of such parties for the exemption 
provided in clause (i). The Commissioner shall 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary 
to determine eligibility for such exemption.’’; 
(3) in subparagaph (E) (as so redesignated), by 
striking ‘‘and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘(C), and (D)’’; 
and 
(4) in subparagraph (F) (as so redesignated), 
by striking ‘‘(D)’’ each place it appears and insert-
ing ‘‘(E)’’. 
(b) TITLE VIII.—Section 807(h) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1007(h)) is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 
(5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(3)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in any 
case where the other person to whom such payment 
is made is the spouse of the individual entitled to 
such payment. 
‘‘(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
establish and implement procedures as necessary for 
the Commissioner to determine the eligibility of such 
parties for the exemption provided in subparagraph 
(A). The Commissioner shall prescribe such regula-
tions as may be necessary to determine eligibility for 
such exemption.’’. 
(c) TITLE XVI.—Section 1631(a)(2)(C) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(C)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating clauses (iv) and (v) as 
clauses (v) and (vi), respectively; 
(2) by inserting after clause (iii) the following: 
‘‘(iv)(I) Clause (i) shall not apply in any case 
where the representative payee is— 
‘‘(aa) a parent, or other individual who is 
a legal guardian of, a minor child entitled to 
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such payment who primarily resides in the same 
household; 
‘‘(bb) a parent of an individual entitled to 
such payment who is under a disability who pri-
marily resides in the same household; or 
‘‘(cc) the spouse of the individual entitled 
to such payment. 
‘‘(II) The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
establish and implement procedures as necessary for 
the Commissioner to determine the eligibility of such 
parties for the exemption provided in subclause (I). 
The Commissioner shall prescribe such regulations 
as may be necessary to determine eligibility for such 
exemption.’’; 
(3) in clause (v) (as so redesignated), by strik-
ing ‘‘and (iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(iii), and (iv)’’; and 
(4) in clause (vi) (as so redesignated), by strik-
ing ‘‘(iv)’’ each time it appears and inserting ‘‘(v)’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 103. PROTECTING BENEFICIARIES THROUGH INFOR-
MATION SHARING. 
(a) INFORMATION SHARING TO DETERMINE STATE 
FOSTER CARE STATUS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(j) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(11)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security 
shall— 
‘‘(i) enter into agreements with each State with 
a plan approved under part E of title IV for the pur-
pose of sharing and matching data, on an automated 
monthly basis, in the system of records of the Social 
Security Administration with each Statewide and 
Tribal Automated Child Welfare Information System 
to identify represented minor beneficiaries who are 
in foster care under the responsibility of the State 
for such month; and 
‘‘(ii) in any case in which a represented minor 
beneficiary has entered or exited foster care or 
changed foster care placement in such month, rede-
termine the appropriate representative payee for 
such individual. 
‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘State’ has the meaning given 
such term for purposes of part E of title IV; 
‘‘(ii) the term ‘Statewide and Tribal Automated 
Child Welfare Information System’ means a state-
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