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Advocates press panel to fund kinship TANF expansions E254 and E255 to keep children with relatives
Summary
Children's advocates, legal-aid attorneys and kinship organizations urged funding for E254 and E255 to expand Temporary Assistance for Needy Families support for kinship caregivers and to prevent foster-care entries; lawmakers were told the change will stabilize households and reduce long-term state costs.
Representatives of Foster Kinship Nevada, the Children's Advocacy Alliance and Legal Aid told the subcommittee they support two budget items, E254 and E255, that would expand Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits and prevention services for kinship caregivers.
Leah Dodds, director of Foster Kinship Nevada, told the panel the state supports roughly 30,000 children living with relatives outside formal foster care and that many kinship caregivers lack the financial resources available to licensed foster parents. "By extending these benefits to families, you're ensuring that children can remain with trusted relatives rather than being placed in the foster care system simply because of financial hardship," Dodds said.
Legal-aid attorney Marcus Brouwers and several other speakers described how minor guardianship families often lack access to the supports that stabilize households. Brouwers urged the committee to back E254 and E255: "Help keep these kids in their homes, provide a bit of stability, help give them a bit of normalcy," he said.
DHHS officials at the hearing said the department had proposed using opioid settlement funds for several kinship and family-support initiatives and that they were developing outreach and eligibility procedures to reach eligible families who are currently not in the welfare system.
Lawmakers requested details on projected caseloads, administrative changes needed at the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services and whether the proposals would create new maintenance-of-effort obligations for future budgets. Advocates argued that preventive kinship funding would reduce long-term foster-care costs and preserve family connections.
Ending: The subcommittee heard strong bipartisan support from child-welfare groups for E254 and E255. Staff requested further financial and caseload details to assess the proposals during the upcoming budget markup.
