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Office of the Child Advocate seeks two investigators; LBC did not recommend enhancement
Summary
The newly independent Office of the Child Advocate requested two additional investigator positions to handle an expanded caseload created by Senate Bill 115; the Legislative Budget Committee did not include those positions in its recommendation, though the governor’s proposal did.
Amanda (Legislative Research) and Carrie Leonard, acting Child Advocate, told the Committee on Social Services Budget that the Office of the Child Advocate is now an independent state agency, funded with State General Fund dollars after Senate Bill 115 established the office by statute and expanded its jurisdiction to include children who received services from the Department of Corrections within the last five years.
Leonard said the office carried forward approximately $130,000 from its prior division within the Department of Administration; those carryforward funds were intended to help fund one additional investigator in fiscal year 2025. The office requested two additional full‑time investigators (an enhancement) to reduce high caseloads and improve timeliness; Amanda said the LBC did not recommend that enhancement, while the governor’s recommendation did include the positions.
Leonard told members the office currently operates with five staff and argued the caseload and the recent statutory expansion make the additional positions necessary; she said the office cannot reliably estimate the number of new cases tied to the corrections expansion until more reports arrive. The LBC’s deletion of the enhancement means the committee would need to formally restore those positions if it chooses to do so during appropriation hearings.
Leonard also described a contingency scenario requested by Appropriations leadership: if required to find a 7.5% reduction to the agency’s budget, the office would likely have to eliminate a position rather than produce operational savings because most of the budget is salaries and operating costs are limited.
Committee members asked procedural questions about the LBC’s role and about the source and timing of the carryforward funds. Amanda and Leonard said the LBC’s interim recommendations were intended as a starting point for committees and that reconciliation with the governor’s recommendation will occur during the appropriation process next week.
