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Committee asks for details before approving $265,000 increase for DCBS contract with Kentucky Youth Advocates
Summary
The Department for Community Based Services requested an increase for a contract that pays Kentucky Youth Advocates to manage a trusted‑advisor (lived‑expert) program; lawmakers asked whether funds were budgeted and deferred the item to allow DCBS to detail funding sources and expected efficiencies.
The Department for Community Based Services asked the Contract Review Committee on May 1 to approve a $265,000 increase to an existing memorandum of agreement that supports Kentucky Youth Advocates as an external facilitator for a trusted‑advisor or lived‑expert program.
Lisa Dennis, commissioner of the Department for Community Based Services, and staff explained that Kentucky Youth Advocates administer the program’s administrative tasks, recruit lived experts and manage invoices submitted by lived experts. DCBS officials said the trusted‑advisor council provides lived experience advice on policy and program design across prevention projects and other initiatives, and the department sought the increase because demand has grown.
Senator Merritt, Representative McCool and other committee members pressed DCBS on budget provenance: committee members asked whether the additional $265,000 was appropriation within the department’s existing budget or required shifting funds from other programs. DCBS staff said the amount would come from existing appropriations that fund the programs the trusted‑advisor council supports, but members asked for a clearer breakdown to demonstrate where the money is coming from and whether the increase would supplant other services.
Senator Meredith and others also sought evidence that the lived‑expert facilitation produces measurable savings or increased efficiency; DCBS staff said the lived‑expert model reduces guesswork, improves program design and will produce efficiency gains and better outcomes, and that the contract currently supports up to 20 lived experts as the program expands. Committee members asked DCBS to provide metrics and a plan showing savings or reallocations.
Given the questions, the committee voted to defer the MOA amendment so DCBS could provide specific budget line items and expected efficiency metrics. Senators and representatives indicated they wanted written documentation of funding sources and more definite measures of expected savings before final approval.
