What GAO Found
For children receiving Social Security benefits (beneficiaries), such as disability benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) typically assigns representative payees (payee) to manage those benefits. When children enter or exit foster care, SSA may need to change the payee. Since 2018, SSA has encouraged states to set up data exchanges to submit monthly data on children in foster care to help SSA identify when these beneficiaries need a new payee. Twenty-five states were submitting data through these exchanges, as of July 2026. However, no new states have begun submitting data since 2024; officials from four of eight selected states not submitting data had minimal awareness of the data exchanges. Yet, SSA has not changed its state outreach efforts, thereby limiting the number of beneficiaries covered under its exchanges (see figure).
Number of Social Security Beneficiaries in Foster Care With a Representative Payee and States Submitting Data to SSA’s Foster Care Data Exchanges, Fiscal Year 2025
Note: The District of Columbia is counted as a state. The number of states submitting data is as of July 2026.
SSA generates alerts from the data exchanges when a beneficiary enters or exits foster care or changes placement while in foster care. Alerts have helped SSA field office staff identify when to reassess payees. But staff GAO interviewed from four selected field offices reported challenges addressing alerts, such as:
Each alert had limited information, requiring field office staff to conduct additional, time-consuming research.
There is a large volume of alerts to address—over 50,000 in fiscal year 2025—but many of these generally do not require a change in payee.
SSA field office staff GAO interviewed had existing practices and ideas for changes SSA could implement to mitigate these challenges. For example, they said that SSA could designate staff to address alerts, include more information in each alert (e.g., payee email addresses), and use artificial intelligence tools to more easily address change of foster care placement alerts that require action. Although field office staff are the end users of the data, SSA has not sought staff input or provided a way for them to share potentially useful practices with each other. Without seeking input, SSA is missing opportunities to improve the efficiency of its processes and ensure beneficiaries in foster care have suitable payees.
Why GAO Did This Study
In fiscal year 2025, payees managed over $270 million in Social Security benefits for about 44,000 children in foster care. Federal law in 2018 called for SSA to enter into agreements for states to provide it with monthly data on children in foster care. These data help SSA identify suitable payees.
GAO was asked to review SSA’s implementation and use of the foster care data exchanges. This report examines (1) selected states’ experiences submitting data and SSA’s efforts to increase state participation and (2) how SSA has used the data exchanges to ensure beneficiaries in foster care have suitable payees.
GAO reviewed SSA documents and policies and analyzed SSA alert data from fiscal years 2019 (when the first state began submitting data) through 2025, the most recent available. GAO interviewed officials from 21 states—13 that submitted data and eight that did not—selected for variation in experience, geography, and size. GAO interviewed SSA officials and staff at four selected field offices identified through interviews with state agencies. Information from state and SSA field office interviews are not generalizable but provide insights on challenges and ways to address them.
Source: GAO Reports & Testimonies · 2026-11-09