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Puerto Rico House committee reviews Department of the Family budget, cites ARPA and federal funding shifts
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Summary
Secretariat and four administrators briefed the House committee on a consolidated budget request and program priorities; officials said reductions largely reflect expiration of nonrecurring federal recovery funds and highlighted planned digitalization and service priorities.
The House of Representatives’ Budget Committee held a joint review of the Department of the Family’s fiscal 2025–26 request on April 30, 2025, focusing on priorities for adult and child services and the department’s consolidated funding picture. The hearing was a presentation and question-and-answer session; no formal votes were taken.
Department leaders told the committee the budget request aligns with the governor’s policy priorities and that an apparent decline in the consolidated total largely reflects nonrecurring federal recovery funds (including ARPA) that are not available in the next fiscal year. Secretary Susan Roy Fuentes said the administration submitted a proposal “focused on the plan de gobierno of our governor” and that the packet submitted to the committee may be summarized rather than read in full.
Committee members pressed agency officials for line-item clarity and for the department to respond to a recent letter from the Financial Oversight and Management Board (Junta de Supervisión Fiscal) that reduced a specific request; the chair urged officials to engage the office of the governor and the board during May to resolve open items.
Officials described investments and program priorities inside the consolidated request: early-childhood care and voucher expansion (ACUDEN/ShareCare vouchers), adoption and foster-care supports, adult and elder services (including a proposed auxiliary administration focused on older adults), digitalization of eligibility and case-management systems, and enhanced licensing work across the department’s sub-agencies.
Agency administrators gave component-level figures during the hearing: ACUDEN requested a consolidated $151 million (about $137 million federal and $14 million state), ASUME (child-support agency) reported an approximate $42 million proposed budget (with roughly a 34% state / 66% federal mix), AFAN (adult services) reported a consolidated $288 million (about $69 million federal and $219 million state), and ASEF (socioeconomic development/administering food and work programs) reported a consolidated figure the administrators described as in the low hundreds of millions (transcript figures for some consolidations were inconsistent and committee staff requested written detail).
Officials repeatedly emphasized that federal funding composition drives program stability: several administrators said a large share of their operating budgets comes from federal grants and federal program allocations (for example, PAN / SNAP, Head Start and other federal funds). Committee members asked whether any agencies had received formal notice of anticipated federal program cuts; administrators said they had not received general cut notices and that they have been engaging with federal contacts and congressional offices to support program continuity and the NAP-to-SNAP transition where applicable.
The hearing closed with the committee requiring follow-up written materials within five business days on multiple items — including detailed consolidated totals, municipal allocations tied to home-care funding, outstanding recovery-project lists by municipality, and staffing/recruitment plans.
