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Human Services requests technology, childcare and program funding; highlights carryforward and administrative items
Summary
Department of Human Services Commissioner Clarence Carter presented the agency’s FY2026 budget, requesting recurring funds for cloud and platform maintenance, expansions to Smart Steps and WAGES childcare supports, a child care improvement fund, Boys & Girls Club grants and county office rent increases; the committee advanced the budget.
Clarence Carter, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services, presented the department’s fiscal 2026 budget request, asking for recurring and nonrecurring funds to maintain technology upgrades, expand childcare supports and cover rising administrative costs.
The department requested $12.945 million recurring to maintain cloud support and the No Wrong Door platform known as 1 DHS, arguing that recent multi‑year technology modernization requires ongoing investment. On childcare, DHS asked for $5.9 million recurring to raise Smart Steps eligibility to 100% of state median income (to reduce cliff effects for working families) and $7.2 million recurring to expand the WAGES salary‑supplement program for childcare workers. The department also requested $15.0 million nonrecurring to complete the Child Care Improvement Fund pilot and $10.9 million nonrecurring to provide Boys & Girls Club grants to serve new and existing low‑income youth.
Other requests included $8.304 million recurring for child‑support enforcement operations to offset rising costs, $1.45 million recurring for county office rental increases, and $150,000 recurring for Kids Central administrative adjustments following program transfers. The department proposed several reductions including a $3.2 million certified public expenditures offset and other 1% cost reductions.
Commissioner Carter said the department has modernized agency technology and must now fund ongoing cloud and platform costs. He also defended the approach to using multiyear federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) grants and said most carryforward balances represent planned multiyear obligations rather than returned federal funds; staff offered to provide precise return figures on request. Lawmakers pressed the department on childcare carryforward levels, summer feeding programs and program timing; the committee recorded eight ayes and one president not voting when advancing the DHS budget to finance.
