Adds to existing law to provide requirements for the Department of Health and Welfare to apply and reserve federal benefits for children in the department's legal custody.

The Trump Administration has encouraged States to preserve Social Security survivor benefits for foster youth rather than divert them to offset state government costs. Survivor benefits are an earned benefit through work andrepresentperhapsthelastfinancialsupportadeceasedparentcanprovidetheirchild. TheIdahoDepartment of Health and Welfare ended this diversion through administrative action in 2025, and this bill codifies this practice to ensure foster youth will continue to have access to their deceased parents' survivor benefits over time.