Legislative analysts, DCF seek state funds for Summer EBT administration, ABLE accounts and behavioral-health teams

Amanda Prosser, fiscal analyst with Legislative Research, briefed the committee on how the Department for Children and Families’ budget is reflected in the House proposal and the governor’s differences, emphasizing several current- and next‑year items that would affect agency operations.

The most immediate item discussed was the Summer EBT program (branded in testimony as Sun Bucks). Prosser told the committee the federal program “provides a hundred and $20 per summer to kids who qualify” and that the state pays roughly half of the administrative cost. The House inserted $925,000 in state general fund (SGF) to cover the administration in the current year; that amount includes a $100,000 set‑aside “to reimburse individuals who experience fraudulent transactions,” Prosser said. Under the House language the SGF would be held by the State Finance Council and released to DCF once the secretary certifies that a waiver has been submitted to the USDA to exclude certain items from eligible purchases.

Prosper and DCF staff also explained recent lapsing of reappropriations. Prosser said the agency had about $30.8 million in reappropriated funds from fiscal 2024 into fiscal 2025 and that the Special Committee on Legislative Budget and a later legislative motion lapsed the remaining reappropriations after partially preemptive lapses by the agency. Secretary Laura Howard asked the committee to restore part of those funds: “I’m here today asking you to restore 20% of that,” Howard said, adding that roughly $4.7 million represents previously committed or already incurred costs for contracts and projects.

Howard asked the committee to consider two governor‑supported enhancements for fiscal 2026. The first is a policy and budget change tied to the governor’s executive order to preserve federal Social Security and SSI survivor/disability benefits in ABLE accounts for eligible youth in foster care. Howard said the change would keep those benefits for the child rather than allowing the state to offset foster‑care costs with them; she said the fiscal impact is an estimated $8 million SGF. “The governor’s executive order … would direct DCF preserve and conserve federal benefits for eligible youth in care,” she said, and noted Kansas already has ABLE account legislation and is coordinating with the state treasurer to create safeguards and training around the accounts.

The second priority Howard urged was expansion of behavioral‑health intervention teams to improve placement stability for youth in foster care. She said the department funded 3.5 teams on a pilot basis in the current year and is requesting funding to scale to eight teams composed of specialized case managers and in‑home behavioral interventionists with a target caseload ratio of roughly one to five. Howard said the strategy is aimed at a small cohort of youth with high‑intensity mental‑health needs or frequent placement disruptions and that it has relevance to the state’s pending class‑action litigation concerning placement stability.

Committee members pressed for more detail in several areas during Q&A. Senators asked how the Summer EBT fraud reimbursement would work; Prosser explained that the program uses debit‑style EBT cards and that, unlike standard bank fraud protections, the federal benefit funds are not automatically reimbursed, which is why the $100,000 SGF contingency was proposed. On the ABLE‑account change, members asked when the executive order was signed (testimony indicated it was signed in early January) and requested an estimate of the dollar value an individual foster youth might retain; Howard said that would vary by length of time in care and that staff could provide more detailed estimates later.

No formal committee action or vote on DCF items is recorded in the transcript. Secretary Howard and staff stood for questions and indicated they would provide additional documentation (including fraud reports and more detailed fiscal estimates) if the committee requested them.

The briefing also covered other DCF items appearing in the budget materials, including one‑time and ongoing software and system requests (licenses for the CURRENT/Kansas Eligibility and Intake System integration) and a House‑added proviso requiring DCF to share eligibility information with KDHE to detect program fraud. Prosser and Howard noted some House additions were funded with ARPA interest in the House bill and that recent global motions have removed or altered those uses in subsequent drafts.

Committee members asked about two global budget motions that could affect DCF: a 1.5% across‑the‑board reduction and a vacant‑position cut. Howard said those global motions could exacerbate existing administrative shortfalls and increase agency “shrinkage” if applied without adjustments, and she urged careful consideration of implementation language to avoid unintended consequences for service delivery.