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Committee discusses programs moved from MDE to Department of Children, Youth and Families and tracking issues
Summary
Members were briefed on programs transferred from the Minnesota Department of Education to the newly created Department of Children, Youth and Families and asked for clearer budget tracking; staff said some administrative funds and program appropriations shifted and that tracking has caused confusion.
House Fiscal and House Research staff told the committee which early‑childhood and family programs moved from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and explained how those moves appear in the committee spreadsheets.
Ms. Beckel said programs that moved to DCYF include Early Learning Scholarships, Head Start, Parent Child Plus, Grow Your Own Early Childhood Education, the Quality Rating and Improvement System, the Educate Parents Partnership and Reach Out and Read Minnesota. "Those are items that you do not see on your spreadsheet," Beckel said, adding that the committee still retains jurisdiction over certain early‑education items that remain listed under the committee’s early childhood section.
Staff acknowledged the reorganization complicated the committee’s tracking. Beckel said an administrative funding amount—about $1,148,000—moved from MDE to DCYF and that MDE subsequently requested a backfill that Ms. Beckel reflected as $173,000 rolled into the base. She described the shifts as a principal reason the department-level line total changed between the end‑of‑session and November forecast spreadsheets and said she can provide a separate DCYF spreadsheet showing the moved items.
Representative members asked clarifying questions about which programs remain under the committee’s jurisdiction and how to read the spreadsheets when agency responsibilities have shifted. Nonpartisan staff said they are coordinating with Minnesota Management and Budget and with agency budget officers to reconcile where appropriations appear and to produce a version of the tracking sheets that isolates moved items for clarity in future hearings.
