House subcommittee adds $5.5M to Office of Children's Services amid federal pause for advocacy centers

The House Finance Budget Subcommittee for the Department of Family and Community Services recommended an FY26 operating budget that largely follows the governor's proposal and adds one new general fund increment to replace federal funding paused for children's advocacy centers.

The subcommittee reported totals of UGF $273,553,400; DGF $30,743,600; other funds $104,620,900; and federal funds $86,394,400, for a total of $495,313,300. The subcommittee met three times and made no changes to the governor's transactions except for adding a $5,500,000 UGF increment to the Office of Children's Services family preservation allocation to replace lost federal funding for children's advocacy centers.

Why it matters: The addition targets nonprofit children's advocacy centers that reportedly lost federal support; subcommittee members asked for a list of the nonprofit providers and were told a list exists in the Department of Health grant book and will be provided.

The package includes 1,870 permanent full‑time positions, 6 permanent part‑time positions and 69 temporary positions (1,945 total). The chair set an amendment deadline; the subcommittee received 12 amendments but adopted none. The attached B.A. Report accompanies the narrative and the subcommittee forwarded its recommendation to the full committee.

Questions during the presentation focused on the nonprofit status of the advocacy centers and the source of the federal pause; staff said the recipients are nonprofits and that the Department of Health maintains a grant book listing providers and that staff would provide that list to members.