Committee retains bill requiring DCYF cost report; move to retain passes 15-1

The New Hampshire House Children and Family Law Committee on May 18 retained House Bill 518, a measure asking the commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to prepare a consolidated, detailed annual report on costs associated with the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).

Representative Erica Leon (Rockingham 13), the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure is “a bill of transparency” intended to consolidate disparate reporting so the Legislature, the executive branch and department staff can see how resources are used. “This bill, which would have the commissioner provide a detailed annual report of all the costs,” Leon said during her testimony, adding the information would inform future discussions about whether DCYF should be a standalone department.

The bill drew wide discussion about existing workloads and reporting. Marie Noonan, director of DCYF, said the division maintains “hundreds of policies and standard operating procedures” and that finance staff and other teams maintain budget and spending information, but DCYF does not currently “create one report specific to DCYF in this way.” Noonan told the committee the department has identified it could produce the report without a fiscal note attached: “We have identified there would be no fiscal note attached, for us to be able to honor this bill.”

Former Representative Betty Gay and other witnesses urged that reporting be accompanied by operational charts and procedure flowcharts so the public and lawmakers could see where time and staffing bottlenecks occur. Gay suggested compiling reporting criteria across the many committees DCYF answers to so the division could provide a single consolidated product.

Committee members asked whether the measure duplicates other executive reviews and whether the department had the staff capacity to produce a new report. Leon said the bill’s purpose is long-term transparency and that it could co-exist with governor-led department reviews. Noonan reiterated the department’s position that it could file the report within existing resources and also asked the committee to consider moving the reporting deadline to Dec. 31 instead of Sept. 1; the sponsor said she would work with legislative services on any timing amendment.

After discussion the committee voted to retain HB 518 so members can track budget developments and work with the sponsor over the summer. Representative DeSimone moved to retain the bill; Representative Petrino seconded. The motion carried 15 to 1. The chair said the bill is retained and will not go on the calendar immediately; members signaled they would use the ensuing months to follow the budget and consider whether a subcommittee on DCYF oversight should be formed.

The committee record shows plans for follow-up between the sponsor, DCYF and the committee as the budget process continues.