Human Services asks for state-funded staff for children's long-term support; ARPA-funded positions slated to end in 2026

Human Services Department leadership told the Rock County Board on Tuesday that continued growth in the Children's Long Term Support (CLTS) program is driving a personnel request that the department says is fully state-funded and will not increase the county tax levy.

Kate Luster, speaking for Human Services (identified in the transcript as “Kate”), said the department has added roughly 200 clients in CLTS over the last year and is currently admitting children within compliance time frames. The department requested 10 additional positions tied to the CLTS program for 2026, and administrators said those positions are fully funded by the state and are intended to prevent a wait list for eligible children. Luster said the net change in departmental FTE in the recommended budget is 2.2 FTE when reductions and other additions are netted.

Luster said Human Services had previously added staffing during 2025 to meet CLTS growth; the department told supervisors those prior additions also were funded by the state and do not increase the local levy. She said the county risks state fines if it were to have an eligible-child wait list for the program.

The department also discussed ARPA-funded positions. Katrina Harwood (identified as the health officer in the transcript) and budget staff said ARPA dollars have funded certain public-health staff and that 2026 is the final year of ARPA funding for several positions; staff said they are seeking other funding sources and said continuation decisions would return to the board if tax-levy support were required.

Human Services also plans an organizational accounting change: the drug-court budget and related revenues/expenses are being moved administratively from the Sheriff's Office to Human Services for 2026. County administration and the sheriff said the move is an internal reorganization of budget administration; service delivery is not changing, and the transfer will shift associated levy lines into Human Services and out of the Sheriff's budget.

Why it matters: The CLTS expansion is a state-mandated program that administrators said must be staffed to remain in compliance and avoid penalties; the request for additional staff is therefore a state-funded operational expansion rather than a proposed local-tax increase. The ending of ARPA funding for some positions in 2026 will require decisions about whether the county will continue programs with other revenue sources.

Ending: Staff said they would circulate additional data on CLTS admissions and discharge trends to supervisors, and Human Services will coordinate with administration on grant and levy implications as committees review the budget.