Prince George's County details $19.27 million FY2026 Family Services budget, requests $1.4M in grants

The Prince George's County Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee reviewed the Department of Family Services' proposed fiscal year 2026 budget on April 21, 2025.

David Noto, budget analyst with the committee's Budget and Policy Analysis Division, told members the department's proposed total is $19,270,000, an increase of $13,700 from the FY2025 approved budget. Noto said 33.5% of the proposed budget is expected to come from the general fund, 64.6% from grants and 1.9% from the Domestic Violence Special Revenue Fund. He also noted a $1,400,000 supplemental grant request that includes the ENOUGH grant from the Governor's Office for Children.

The FY26 submission reflects several program and staffing priorities, and agency leaders emphasized continuing work on a strategic plan for older residents and efforts to reduce vacancy rates. Director Bellum Butler and her leadership team outlined completed and ongoing initiatives, including a county needs assessment for older residents conducted with George Washington University, conversion of the Maryland Access Point call line to a call center, and federal dementia-capable programming funded through the Administration for Community Living.

Noto said the department is proposing 10 new limited-term positions funded through the general fund (not grant funds). As of March 2025, Family Services reported eight general-fund vacancies, five grant-funded vacancies, one part-time vacancy and 18 limited-term vacancies. The department identified two central challenges: maintaining a fully staffed community options waiver program and high turnover among limited-term, grant-funded positions as employees move to merit positions in nearby jurisdictions.

Director Bellum Butler, director of the Department of Family Services, described the department's core services as information and referral; intervention and case management; home- and community-based services; community outreach and advocacy; provision of senior meals; and food security education. Butler said the department completed a comprehensive needs assessment for older Prince Georgians in partnership with George Washington University that included interviews, focus groups and surveys with more than 800 participants. "The next step," Butler said, "is to develop and complete our strategic plan with participation from community members and the utilization of the data that we collected in the needs assessment." The department set a target completion date of Sept. 30, 2025.

Butler highlighted operational changes intended to improve service delivery. She said the County's Maryland Access Point (MAP) converted its phone system to a call center to allow multiple options counselors to handle calls simultaneously; MAP received 32,338 calls in FY2024, about 2,700 per month. Butler also said the Aging and Disability division received a dementia-capable federal grant from the…