Committee approves foster-care supplemental and $21.2 million in child-welfare enhancements, ties funding to performance measure

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Friday approved a $14,126,900 supplemental for the Division of Youth Safety and Permanency to cover forecasted foster-care trustee and benefit payments in fiscal 2025 and later approved a fiscal 2026 package that adds 63 full-time equivalent positions and roughly $21.2 million in combined state and federal funding.

Analyst Alex Williamson briefed the committee that the fiscal 2025 supplemental is intended to cover a shortfall driven by congregate care costs before recent efforts to move youth into less-costly placements take effect. "This first supplemental is related to a population forecast adjustment for the state's foster care population," Williamson said. The supplemental motion provided $8,868,200 from the General Fund and…