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CYFD requests nonrecurring funding and workforce positions to meet Kevin S. remediation order
Summary
The Children, Youth and Families Department described nonrecurring and Grow requests intended to address compliance and caseload standards outlined in the Kevin S. remedial order, including regional call centers, training academy funds and temporary funding to hire additional protective-services caseworkers.
Rachel Garcia, LFC analyst for CYFD, presented a consolidated high-level summary of CYFD's budget submission and explained that the house substitute kept a flat recurring operating budget while adding significant nonrecurring investments. She told the committee the Kevin S. remediation order was released in January and that the order’s staffing and system requirements arrived after the executive budget had been prepared.
CYFD Secretary testified that the remediation order required workforce increases, improved data teams for case management, and regional response teams to reduce overtime and speed emergency responses. The department requested nonrecurring Grow funds to hire roughly 100 caseworkers over three years (about $30 million in Grow funds) and start a child-welfare training academy that the house substituted into the budget. The department also requested a foster parent rate study and an increase in foster-parent stipends; the house funded a study allocation but did not fully adopt all rate increases.
Senators asked whether the house substitute addressed the Kevin S. obligations and were told that the house made sizable nonrecurring investments but did not backfill some federal-revenue declines in the recurring base. Witnesses asked for additional technical assistance to maximize federal drawdowns before state funds would be used to backfill federal losses.
Ending: Committee members asked LFC to compile a consolidated list of how pending bills would affect CYFD funding and asked the department to provide follow-up data; no final appropriations vote was recorded in this hearing.
