HB1235 • 2026

Children's Services, Dept. of

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36 and Title 37, relative to children.

Children

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Love, Yarbro
Last action: 2026-04-08
Official status: Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify the exact duration for which records must be kept, only that they should be available to relevant parties.

Children's Services Department Rules on Federal Funds

This bill changes how Tennessee's Children's Services Department manages federal funds for children in its care.

What This Bill Does

Requires the department to save or use federal money received by a child for their future needs or special services not provided by the department.
Allows the department to put this money into trusts, savings plans, or other accounts that help the child's future.
Ensures the department uses these funds without breaking any rules about how much money a person can have and still get government help.
Requires the department to keep records of how they manage these federal funds.

Who It Names or Affects

Children in Tennessee's care who receive federal benefits like Social Security or foster care assistance.
The Department of Children’s Services and its contractors.

Terms To Know

Representative Payee: A person or organization that manages money for someone else, in this case, a child who is unable to manage their own funds.
Special Needs Trust: A type of trust designed to help people with disabilities save and use money without losing government benefits like Medicaid.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how much interest from federal funds can be used for administrative costs.
It is unclear what happens if the department uses federal funds in a way that violates federal rules, but it must avoid such actions.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA0982

Amendment 1-0 to HB1235

Plain English: This amendment adds new rules for how the Tennessee Department of Children's Services should manage social security, supplemental security income, and veteran’s benefits received by children in its care.

The department must conserve or use these benefits based on what is best for the child, keeping federal and state limits in mind.
If needed, the department can spend these funds to cover special needs services not provided by the department, costs of caring for the child if conserving the money would affect other benefits, or costs when the child is placed in a residential facility (excluding group homes).
The amendment requires the department to keep detailed records about how it manages these benefits and allows it to use interest from these funds to cover related expenses.

Some parts of the amendment refer to specific federal laws, which might be hard for a general reader to understand without additional context.

Bill History

2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026
2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to the Final Calendar No. 2
2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/8/2026
2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee
2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/6/2026
2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee
2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/1/2026
2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 4/1/2026
2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/23/2026
2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee
2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/17/2026
2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee to 3/17/2026
2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/10/2026
2026-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly
Def. to Special Calendar to be Published with Final Calendar in Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee
2026-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 2/3/2026
2026-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Meeting Canceled
2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 1/27/2026
2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2025
2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/15/2025
2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly
Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on 4/15/2025
2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee to First Calendar of 2026
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/25/2025
2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee to 3/25/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/18/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor change.
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) withdrawn.
2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/11/2025
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law prohibits

a
court
from
direct
ing
the department of children's services
("department"),
or its contractors' or agents'
,
use or disposition of any federal funds for which any child or person in the care of the department is eligi
ble or may receive and for which the department may be payee on behalf of such child or person including, but not limited to, Social Security survivors benefits and supplemental security income benefits, foster care or adoption assistance benefits, or vet
e
ran's benefits, railroad retirement benefits or black lung benefits or any successor entitlements that are provided by federal law.

Funds received under any federal benefits programs
must
be processed, utilized and accounted for by the department pursuant
only to federal regulations or federal court orders governing those programs.

CONSERVATION OF FUNDS
–
AUTHORIZED USES

W
hen the department serves as the representative payee on behalf of a child for any federal funds a child in the care of the departmen
t is eligible for or may receive,
this bill requires
the department
to
conserve those federal funds for the child's reasonable, foreseeable future needs or use the funds for special needs services not otherwise provided by the department.

This bill autho
rizes

t
he department
to
exercise discretion to conserve these federal funds in the best interest of the child by holding such moneys in a trust or apply for and establish an account for the child, including a Plan for Achieving Self-Support, a 529 or 529A
plan, an individual development account, a special needs trust, or a bank account.
However, i
f it is in the best interest of the child, the department may utilize the federal funds for special needs services that are not currently being provided by the de
partment.

This bill requires

t
he department
to
conserve and use the federal funds in a manner that does not violate any federal asset or resource limits that would affect the child's eligibility for benefits or assistance offered by the federal, state, o
r local government.

This bill authorizes t
he department
to
use a reasonable portion of interest earnings from the federal funds to offset the reasonable expenses incurred in meeting the department's obligations to apply for and administer benefits
descri
bed above
.
However, t
he federal funds must not be used to reimburse the department for the costs of caring for the child.

RECORDKEEPING

This bill requires the
department
to
maintain records related to the conservation and use of these federal funds, an
d the records must be maintained in the child's file that is available to the child's attorney, to the child once the child is 18, and to the child's guardian if the child is no longer in the department's custody.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SENATE BILL 312
By Yarbro

HOUSE BILL 1235
By Love

HB1235
001580
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36
and Title 37, relative to children.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 37-1-172, is amended by adding the
following as new subsections:
(c) When the department serves as the representative payee on behalf of a child
for any federal funds a child in the care of the department is eligible for or may receive,
the department shall conserve those federal funds for the child's reasonable,
foreseeable future needs or use the funds for special needs services not otherwise
provided by the department.
(d) The department may exercise discretion to conserve these federal funds in
the best interest of the child by holding such moneys in a trust or apply for and establish
an account for the child, including a Plan for Achieving Self-Support, a 529 or 529A plan,
an individual development account, a special needs trust, or a bank account.
(e) If it is in the best interest of the child, then the department may utilize the
federal funds for special needs services that are not currently being provided by the
department.
(f) The department shall conserve and use the federal funds in a manner that
does not violate any federal asset or resource limits that would affect the child's eligibility
for benefits or assistance offered by the federal, state, or local government.
(g) The department shall maintain records related to the conservation and use of
these federal funds, and the records must be maintained in the child's file that is

- 2 - 001580

available to the child's attorney, to the child once the child is eighteen (18) years of age,
and to the child's guardian if the child is no longer in the department's custody.
(h) The department may use a reasonable portion of interest earnings from the
federal funds to offset the reasonable expenses incurred in meeting the department's
obligations to apply for and administer benefits pursuant to this section. Notwithstanding
subsection (e), the federal funds must not be used to reimburse the department for the
costs of caring for the child.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.