Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
JFAC approves $14.1 million supplemental for child welfare trustee payments and approves FY2026 staffing enhancements tied to prevention and licensing goals
Summary
Committee approved a $14,126,900 supplemental to cover foster care trustee and benefit payment shortages in FY2025 and passed a FY2026 package adding 63 FTE and funding for prevention, clinical and licensing staff tied to a foster-family ratio performance measure.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a $14,126,900 supplemental on March 14 to address a shortfall in trustee and benefit payments for the Division of Youth Safety and Permanency (child welfare). The supplemental was described by analysts as a population forecast adjustment to cover congregate care costs borne by the department this fiscal year.
Motion and funding: Senator Wintrow moved the FY2025 supplemental motion; the motion provided $8,868,200 from the General Fund and $5,258,700 in federal funds for a total of $14,126,900. The committee recorded a total committee vote of 18 ayes, 1 nay, 1 absent and excused; the motion carried and will be reported with a due-pass recommendation.
Context and why it matters: Analysts noted the supplemental covers costly congregate care placements that existed before the department’s measures to move youth into less costly, in-state placements took effect. Committee members, including Senator Wintrow and Representative Furness, emphasized prevention programs as lower-cost alternatives and said the supplemental helps manage urgent shortfalls for complex cases that require congregate settings—often out-of-state placements.
FY2026 enhancements and performance language: The committee later approved a FY2026 enhancement package for Youth Safety and Permanency that adds a mix of prevention and foster-care staffing: 36 prevention specialist positions (prevention specialist team), additional youth safety and permanency staff, foster program clinical staff, foster program licensing staff and operating funds tied to the Payette Assessment and Care Center (PAC) lease and operations. The overall FY2026 motion added 63 FTE, $21,245,700 total funds (approximately $13,774,600 General Fund and $7,471,100 federal funds).
The committee also adopted language that ties eight of the new foster program licensing positions to a performance measure: achieving a 1:1 ratio of foster families to foster children by Jan. 1, 2026, with preliminary status updates due to the committee (the motion and language were adopted by unanimous consent where noted in the transcript). Committee leaders emphasized monitoring and requested preliminary reporting by Sept. 15 as part of oversight.
Discussion vs. decision: Committee discussion stressed prevention, placement availability in-state, and the higher daily cost of congregate care (committee members cited figures of about $380 per day for congregate care vs. $1.80 per day for prevention services). The supplemental and the FY2026 enhancements are formal appropriations and were passed by recorded roll calls.
Next steps: Both the FY2025 supplemental and the FY2026 enhancement package were reported out with due-pass recommendations; committee members said they will monitor implementation against the performance measure and expect follow-up reporting.
