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DHHS outlines FY26 Children, Youth and Families priorities: youth safety, kinship expansion and eligibility gains
Summary
The DHHS Children, Youth and Families team presented FY26 budget items emphasizing a youth safety initiative, child welfare gains (kinship placements and adoptions), and Office of Eligibility's progress on program compliance and digital outreach; Treehouse Child Advocacy Center reported elimination of its trauma therapy wait list.
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) leaders briefed the Health and Human Services Committee on FY26 recommendations and program changes across Children, Youth and Families (CYF), highlighting a youth safety initiative, progress in child welfare permanency, and improvements in eligibility and enrollment systems.
DHHS Director Dr. James Bridgers and Acting Chief Lori Garibay Aquino described CYF's two operational buckets: school- and community-based services (positive youth development, early childhood, school-based services) and social services (child welfare, eligibility and support services). The county executive recommended an approximately $12.9 million (10.2%) increase for the whole service area; the packet shows staff increases and two recommended reductions tied to leveraging state contracts instead of county funds.
On youth safety, DHHS emphasized four priorities from its review: create a unified data source or interoperable dashboard, implement interagency client coordination, catalog and publish safe spaces for youth, and consider a youth…
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